MK names new MP Manyi as party's chief whip in Parliament

CAPE TOWN - In ongoing tweaks to the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party’s parliamentary caucus, it’s replaced Sihle Ngubane as its chief whip with new party member, Mzwanele Manyi. 

Only hours after Manyi was sworn-in as an MP for the second time in two months on Wednesday, after leaving the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the party announced the swap. 

On Wednesday, Manyi stood his ground on his most recent party hopping, saying that all the parties he had joined and left shared the same political ideology and agenda.

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Manyi, the former government spokesperson, has brushed off criticism that he and other state capture accused had made their way into Parliament as a payback for their loyalty to former President Jacob Zuma. 

"There’s some media narrative that says Zuma brought his friends. We may very well be his friends, but we are very competent friends."

In a statement, the party said that Manyi’s executive experience would add impetus to the party’s administration. 

From the African National Congress (ANC), to the African Transformation Movement (ATM), the EFF and now MK, Manyi said that he’d been targeted for flip-flopping when Good Party leader, Patricia de Lille, has not received the same flak.  

"So, I make zero apologies for changing all these parties because truth be told, the MK Party right now is the central repository for all the political parties. Whoever you are, you can find your expression in the MK Party."

Ngubane, who has until now been key to the running of the MK's parliamentary caucus, is staying as an ordinary member. 

In court papers last week, 10 of the 15 disgruntled former MPs claimed Ngubane had faked their expulsion letters to make way for the new appointments.