POLL | Is the Jabulani Khumalo, MK Party saga making you take the party less seriously?

As a leadership battle continues in the Jacob Zuma-led MK Party, it remains to be seen if the internal squabbles will have a negative bearing on the party.

With less than a week before the elections, the newly formed party's campaigning has been overshadowed by a squabble between expelled party founder Jabulani Khumalo and Zuma.

Zuma suffered a major blow on Monday when the Constitutional Court ruled the former president was not eligible to be an MP.

Zuma's party is involved in another court battle with the ANC, in which the ruling party wants to stop MK Party using its current logo.

During the official opening of the Electoral Commission's (IEC) results operations centre (ROC) in Midrand on Wednesday, Khumalo said he remained a leader of the MK Party, despite having been expelled.

“I’m here because I’m the leader of MK. No, it’s not a futile exercise, how can it be?” asked Khumalo.

“Who says I’m expelled? Who decides that I’m expelled? You can’t expel me from my own organisation, it’s impossible.”

He has asked the electoral court to fight his removal from the organisation. He argues that his signature was forged in a letter sent to the IEC alleging he had ceded all power to Zuma who has since assumed the role of party leader. Khumalo argues in court that he registered the party in September and therefore remains its only eligible leader and that he did not write the letter stating that Zuma would take over the reins.

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