Des van Rooyen has broken his own record of being the politician to serve the shortest time in office.Van Rooyen has been removed from his position as Chief Whip of uMkhonto weSizwe Party barely 24 hours after taking over from Colleen Makhubele who was removed from the post on Wednesday morning.Upon his return from Burkina Faso where he spent several days, MKP leader Jacob Zuma reversed the decision to fire Makhubele and suspended his deputy John Hlophe for the move, effectively reversing van Rooyen’s appointment and in the process making him break his own record, set when he served as finance minister for just one weekend, earning the nickname ‘Weekend Special’.
MKP which had announced Wednesday’s changes in an official statement, on Thursday morning said Hlophe had taken the decisions without consultation hence his suspension and a reversal of the reshuffle. MKP has had a leadership revolving door with Zuma and spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndlhela being amongst the few who remain in their original positions.
“The President has taken a decision to issue a precautionary suspension to the Party’s Deputy President and the Leader of the MKP Parliament Caucus Dr. John Hlophe from both his leadership roles with immediate effect, pending a full investigation on his conduct,” said MKP on reversing the changes barely a day after they were made.
The party said Zuma’s decision was also aimed at emphasising the importance of collective leadership and consultation in decision-making.
“This decision is meant to affirm and send a strong message and the principle of collective leadership across all structures within the uMkhonto weSizwe Party. Consequently, the decision taken by Dr. Hlophe to remove Cde Collen Makhubele and appoint Cde Des Van Rooyen is therefore nullified,” said the party effectively reinstating Makhubele who had already been removed from WhatsApp groups.
Reports from within MKP suggest Hlophe is on his way out and that he had been played by Zuma who encouraged him to act against Makhubele only to turnaround and say the decision was taken by Hlophe alone.Hlophe, a former judge who only started participating in politics after his impeachment, has since informed those close to him that he has written to Zuma requesting that his membership be terminated. Zuma recently brought in ANC veteran and longtime ally Tony Yengeni as a second deputy president of MKP apparently without informing Hlophe whom internal sources say he only found out during a media briefing when Yengeni was introduced by Zuma as a second deputy president forcing Hlophe to pretend to understand when he was actually shocked.Meanwhile the leader of MKP Women’s League has lashed out at Ndlhela accusing the party spokesperson of pressuring the Women’s league’s secretary general to issue an early morning media statement endorsing van Rooyen’s promotion.
Mabel Rweqana otherwise known as Shirley Brown who calls herself the league’s president said Ndlhela had interfered in the affairs of MKP women and needed to be stopped.
“Last time I checked you were not a member of the women’s league unless you have changed your gender,” she said in an angry letter to Ndlhela.The squabbles come just a week after National Freedom Party leader Ivan Barnes announced he has lost confidence in Kwazulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli and that he was keen on using his party’s kingmaker position to help MKP takeover the provincial government sparking a debate about Zuma’s constant leadership changes which some believe will most probably extent to the provincial administration if MKP took over.