MK Party axes Bonginkosi Khanyile as Youth League president

MK Party axes Bonginkosi Khanyile as Youth League president

Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has removed Bonginkosi Khanyile as the Youth League president with immediate effect.

The party also axed other Youth League members, including deputy president Thapelo Maisha, as well as Philani Gazuzu, who holds the position of Gauteng coordinator.

However, the party made it clear that Khanyile will remain a normal member until he is notified of his redeployment.

A letter dated April 9 reads: “Dear Cde Bonginkosi Education Khanyile, you are hereby removed from the position of national coordinator uMkhontowe Sizwe Youth League (MKYL).This removal is effective from today.

“Your role going forward will be to be a normal member of the MKYL. You will be notified of your redeployment in due course.

MK Party appreciates your role played thus far.”

His removal comes with no logical explanation or reason whatsoever.

Sources told IOL that he was removed because of unruly behaviour and wanting to incite violence.

In March, Khanyile threatened that all hell will break loose if former president Jacob Zuma and the newly formed party were not allowed on the ballot paper come election day in May.

He said this during a media briefing in the Johannesburg CBD, where he was commenting about the legal battle with the African National Congress (ANC) over the trademark and registration of MKP, the party’s list to Parliament, and the MKP Youth League’s future.

“If they remove the MKP and president Zuma from the ballot as the face of the campaign and try to take our rights, there won’t be elections in South Africa,” he said.

However, speaking on the sidelines of the Johannesburg High Court in March, MKP founder Jabulani Khumalo said the party did not promote any political violence or disrupting democratic processes.

He said they would also deal with members who support such.

Khanyile was appointed as president in January, a month after the Patriotic Alliance (PA) axed him as a member after he attended an MK party event that was addressed by former president Jacob Zuma.

Before joining the PA, Khanyile was an active member of ANC and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

In 2021, he was charged with incitement to violence in connection with the July unrest that swept across KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and Gauteng.

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