12 new MK Party and PA members sworn in as MPs

CAPE TOWN - Twelve new Parliamentarians will be in the National Assembly on Wednesday afternoon, after being sworn in by the Speaker.

Nine of those members of Parliament (MPs) will be filling vacant seats of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, while another three from the Patriotic Alliance (PA) will be replacing members who have been redeployed by the party. 

Speaker Thoko Didiza has appealed to them to always respect the decorum of the house, and to always remember that they ultimately serve the people of South Africa. 

Among the nine new MK Party members only Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala, a former South African Navy rear-admiral, has served as an MP before, representing the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) between 2014 and 2015. 

Despite earlier announcements by the party, its former secretary general, Floyd Shivambu, has not made a return to Parliament. 

The MK Party last welcomed new MPs to the fold in August 2024, after axing more than a dozen members following a fallout over membership and the list process.

It has had to wait out the post-election period before making changes to its candidate lists.

Didiza appealed to the new MPs to exercise their duties with diligence. 

“Because we do come from different parties, we will differ about how we see things on the issues that are being debated, but what is important is to do that in the manner that still respects one another.”

The official opposition will now have all its 58 seats filled for the first time since the swearing-in of new members following the elections.