Almost two years after his impeachment, former Western Cape judge president John Hlophe is facing yet another inquiry.
This time it’s over his unilateral decision to remove Colleen Makhubele as the MK Party’s chief whip in parliament this week.
The Sunday Times can reveal that MK leader Jacob Zuma is subjecting Hlophe, his deputy and believed to be his ally until now, to an internal party inquiry to determine why and how he removed Makhubele without consulting a single member of the party’s top leadership.
The inquiry is expected to be held soon, and will call all those involved in the decision that threw the party into a tailspin while Zuma was in Burkina Faso.
Zuma reversed Hlophe’s decision to remove Makhubele late on Wednesday, and immediately slapped him with a precautionary suspension as he attempted to determine the facts around the drama.
The inquiry, according to sources in the higher echelons of the party, will also call spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela, who released a late-night media statement on Tuesday announcing that Des van Rooyen had replaced Makhubele as chief whip.
The statement was released without Zuma’s knowledge.
The MK Women’s League secretary, Lindiwe Mtshali, is also expected to be called for releasing a statement at 1am on the official women’s league letterhead without the knowledge of the league’s chair, Mabel Rweqana.
A senior party leader said, “From what I heard, it could start as soon as possible. It will start as early as possible. Look, the inquiry is a platform to ascertain what are the problems that are taking place in our caucus, if there are any – and what are the circumstances surrounding this drastic decision by the deputy president, because surely there are circumstances that led to this. So we have to find out what it is.”
However, there are fears in the party that Hlophe could jump ship before the inquiry starts, as he apparently believes his relationship with Zuma has become untenable.
The source said he believed it would not be advisable for Hlophe to do so, but others in the party said he was determined to leave.
We saw on WhatsApp that they say he said in the group [he would quit]. I don’t think he should, or that he would,” the insider said. “I mean, this is a process to explain the rationale, he’s not accused of killing anyone.
Hlophe was said to be spending the week at his farm in Paarl, contemplating his future.
“We saw on WhatsApp that they say he said in the group [he would quit]. I don’t think he should, or that he would,” the insider said. “I mean, this is a process to explain the rationale, he’s not accused of killing anyone.”
The source said Hlophe’s full co-operation with the inquiry was important, as it would help “empower” Zuma to understand why Hlophe took the decision to dismiss Makhubele.
“The process could easily say he was justified; it’s just that he did not consult.”
Zuma is believed to have called for the inquiry before making a final decision on Hlophe’s future, which could potentially lead to his axing, especially now that he shares the position of deputy president with the newly appointed Tony Yengeni, who has essentially taken over the running of the party as Zuma shifts his focus to international relations.
Should he decide to participate in the inquiry, Hlophe, who could not be reached for comment, is expected to argue that he made attempts to speak to Zuma before publicly announcing that he was removing Makhubele but could not reach him.
“I know the DP argues that he tried to get him [but] I’m sure the inquiry will get that there were four people there that travel with Zuma who had their phones on all the time, and they were reachable,” the party insider said.
Zuma is expected to counter Hlophe’s argument by questioning why he also failed to inform other senior party leaders who were in the country.
“Is there a political party where its president and other officials can find out in the media that their chief whip has been removed? Just think about it,” said the insider. “Leave the issue of the MK Party being said to [be] perpetually changing leadership. But can you imagine Julius [Malema] landing at an airport and being told that his deputy has removed the chief whip?
“Leave [that] Zuma was out of the country; I’m counting six officials that were in the country. All of them heard [about the dismissal] like you and I.”
The party leader said that by 10pm, when Hlophe made the announcement, he knew that Zuma was landing at 4am the next day, and he could have waited for a few hours.
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