MK Party secretary-general Sibonelo Nomvalo briefed the media on Thursday.
- The MK Party’s deputy president Tony Yengeni has been deployed to Mpumalanga as an election convener, while other leaders were sent to the North West.
- The party acknowledged anti-foreign lobby groups like March and March, but said it had not formally endorsed them.
- The MK Party affirmed the right to peaceful protests, but called for undocumented migrants to seek “voluntary repatriation”.
The MK Party has yet again tweaked its leadership structures, deploying its senior national leaders to Mpumalanga and the North West to bolster its electoral fortunes ahead of the local government elections on 4 November.
The party’s secretary-general, Sibonelo Nomvalo, held a press briefing in Sandton on Thursday, where he announced that deputy president Tony Yengeni would be deployed as a provincial election convener in Mpumalanga.
Nomvalo added a disclaimer that Yengeni remained the party’s deputy president.
He said: “After careful deliberation and analysis of the enormous task of preparing a demanding elections programme across the country, national officials decided to strengthen the provincial elections task teams in Mpumalanga and the North West.”
The decision, Nomvalo added, was made to ensure that the party attained an “overwhelming” electoral outcome.
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In Mpumalanga, Yengeni will be joined by Lindi Mtshali, the MK Women’s League national secretary, youth league leader Qiniso Cibane, and 16 leaders from regions in Mpumalanga.
In the North West, the party will deploy national organiser Aleck Nkuna, Nomsa Dlamini, Nkateko Mkhabela, and 17 other regional leaders as part of the provincial elections task team.
March and March
Nomvalo read cautiously from a prepared statement when he spoke about the contentious immigration issue playing out in the country.
A recent picture of MK Party chairperson Nathi Nhleko and March and March founder Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma in a meeting set tongues wagging on social media, as the movement’s anti-foreigner sentiment gained momentum.
Anti-foreign national lobby groups, such as March and March and the Insizwa Nobunsizwa Development Foundation, insisted that their campaign should not be viewed as incitement to violence or to target individuals, but rather to pressure the government to address what they claimed had become a national crisis.
They will be leading protests in several parts of the country in the coming days.
Today, the MK Party Secretary-General, Sibonelo Nomvalo, together with the National Officials, addressed the media on the outcomes of the National Officials’ Meeting held from 1 to 3 June 2026. pic.twitter.com/mGFEdzzymI
— uMkhonto WeSizwe Party (Official) (@MkhontoweSizwex) June 4, 2026
Nomvalo revealed that the contentious immigration question was discussed at a recent meeting of the national leadership.
He said the party recognised March and March, and the concerns it raised about immigration.
Nomvalo added:
The voices of the people must be heard, and we acknowledge the role such initiatives play in bringing these issues to the centre of national discourse.
“At the same time, we must make it clear that the uMkhonto weSizwe Party has neither formally aligned itself with nor endorsed March and March.”
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He said the party’s highest-ranking officials reaffirmed South Africans’ constitutional rights to engage in peaceful protests.
“Therefore, we will not restrict the masses of our supporters from protesting or participating in peaceful marches.
“The party maintains that immigration to South Africa must be done within the parameters of the law.
“Any illegal immigrant at this point should seek voluntary repatriation.”
Nomvalo added from where the party sat, “everything that March and March has done is within constitutional parameters”.
Soyiso Maliti
www.news24.com
