Former president Jacob Zuma has declared he is prepared to take legal action to reclaim his membership of the African National Congress (ANC), insisting he remains part of the party despite his expulsion.
Speaking in Inanda, north of Durban, on Saturday, 14 February 2026, Zuma said he would fight “tooth and nail” to be reinstated and expressed hope that the ANC and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK party) would eventually unite.
– Advertisement –
He made the remarks during the launch of a book detailing the life of his first wife, Sizakele Khumalo-Zuma.
ANC Expulsion: Why Jacob Zuma Lost His Membership
The ANC formally severed ties with Zuma in July 2024 after its national disciplinary committee resolved to expel him. The decision followed a disciplinary hearing held on 23 July in his absence.
The party accused Zuma of violating Rule 25 of its constitution by establishing the MK party while maintaining ANC membership. Zuma had also indicated that he would vote for the MK party after it made its public debut in Soweto on 16 December 2023.
According to the ANC, his failure to campaign or vote for the party amounted to a breach of its constitution.
Despite this, Zuma maintains that his membership remains intact. Addressing supporters, he said:
“I said I won’t do anything for the ANC, but my membership card will remain there. It won’t be erased. If they try to remove it, I’ll take them to court. Cattle will be sold. Why did I say that? Because I cannot abandon such honest leaders and pretend as if I was never part of them, as if they never influenced me.
– Advertisement –
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: MK Party Dismisses Ramaphosa’s SONA As ‘Performative Political Exercise’ Ahead Of GNU Address
“So I want to emerge from the ANC. Once they have won, we will take it and put it into the MKP and become one thing,” Zuma said.
Zuma was a member of the ANC for six decades and served two terms as its president.
MK Party Backs Zuma’s Legal Fight
The MK party has publicly thrown its weight behind Zuma’s efforts to challenge the expulsion.
National spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela previously stated that the party supports Zuma in what he described as a landmark case.
“The MK Party is fully behind president Zuma in this ground-breaking case, which will hopefully see his dual membership of the MK party and the real ANC, not the sell-out ANC of [Cyril] Ramaphosa, restored.
“Such an outcome will bring us closer to the much-needed unity of black people in the centuries-old struggle for total liberation and the return of the land to its rightful owners, the African people as a whole,” Ndhlela said.
He further indicated that the MK party’s constitution permits dual membership in exceptional circumstances.
Earlier legal correspondence from Zuma’s attorneys, KMNS Attorneys, was sent to ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, arguing that the expulsion was unlawful and in breach of both the ANC constitution and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
In the letter dated 8 January, Zuma’s legal team warned that court action would follow if the matter was not resolved.
MK Party Impact and ANC Internal Debate
In December 2025, President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged that the MK party had drawn support away from the ANC, contributing to the party’s electoral decline.
The following month, former president Thabo Mbeki sparked further discussion by claiming that the apartheid government’s national security management system had been “activated” to assist the MK party’s electoral performance at the expense of the ANC.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: State Cracks Down On Ex-MK Party MPs Refusing To Leave Parliamentary Homes
This is not the first time Zuma has insisted he belongs within the ANC. In May 2024, he declared that he would “die in the ANC”.
“I’ve sacrificed my life. I was ready to die. I went to prison. I went into exile, and some of the people who are leading – they don’t even know what exile is all about. They don’t know; they’ve never been in prison.
“I have contributed to this ANC. If you listen to my terminology, I said I will die in the ANC,” Zuma said.
During his tenure as president, Zuma was found to have acted in breach of the Constitution.
– Advertisement –
