News24 | Colleen Makhubele resigns as MK Party MP

Colleen Makhubele has resigned as an MK Party MP.

• Former MK Party chief whip Colleen Makhubele has resigned as an MP, citing a desire to serve the country in a different capacity.
• Makhubele’s tenure saw controversies, including a voting error and leadership disputes within the party.
• Previously, Makhubele was the Johannesburg speaker under Cope. She joined MKP in 2024 and became an MP in January 2025.

The turmoil in the MK Party (MKP) caucus continues with the resignation of one of its former chief whips, Colleen Makhubele, as an MP.

In a letter to her party leader, corruption-accused former president Jacob Zuma, Makhubele tendered her resignation, which is effective on 28 February.

She didn’t provide a clear reason for the move.

“After careful consideration, I have decided that, in the best interest of the MKP caucus at this time. I believe that I can better serve our country and its citizens by utilising my skills, qualifications, and experience in a different capacity,” she wrote.

“I still resonate with the message and clarion call that led me to transition from my former political party, SARA (South African Rainbow Alliance), to MKP in June 2024.

“This call remains as relevant today as ever, despite the misrepresentations and concentrated efforts to create divisions both internally and externally,” Makhubele wrote.

READ | MKP axes Makhubele as chief whip, replaces her with Des ‘Weekend Special’ van Rooyen

“I continue to echo the call for all African leaders in politics to rise above identity politics, party affiliations, personality-driven agendas, and ethnic divisions. We must focus on nation building, creating an equitable society, fighting poverty and corruption, addressing youth unemployment, and working towards a unified democratic South Africa.”

After her party, SARA, failed to make an impression at the ballot box, Makhubele joined the MKP and became an MP on 23 January 2025.

By May, she was the party’s chief whip, replacing Mzwanele Manyi.

In July, when the Appropriation Bill was put to a vote in the National Assembly, she incorrectly indicated that the MKP supported the Bill when, in fact, it meant not to support it.

READ | Manyi, Makhubele and now Mokoena-Zondi: MK Party appoints new chief whip

In November 2025, she was briefly axed by the party’s then parliamentary leader, John Hlophe, and replaced by Des van Rooyen. This decision was set aside by Zuma just a day later, and she was reinstated. Hlophe was then suspended and removed as parliamentary leader, and replaced by Van Rooyen.

In January, Makhubele was removed as the chief whip.

Mmabatho Mokoena-Zondi was moved from the National Council of Provinces to the National Assembly to become the new chief whip.

Previously, Makhubele was the Johannesburg speaker under the banner of Cope.