News24 | ‘No Zuma, no MKP’: Conflicting health reports expose a party fighting for survival

• Some MK Party members and members of Jacob Zuma’s family have circulated at least two old videos as proof of his recovery, with News24 confirming both clips predate his hospitalisation.
• Political analysts warn that the party, which has never held an elective conference and revolves entirely around Zuma, faces an existential threat if doubts about his health persist – or if he dies.
• With local government elections on 4 November and the party’s final rally already cancelled, the stakes could not be higher.
• For more political news, visit News24 Politics.

Since former president Jacob Zuma was admitted to St Anne’s Netcare Hospital in Pietermaritzburg on 6 October, after falling ill during a campaign event in Msinga, the party and members of his family have been sending contradictory signals about his condition.

Old videos have been circulated on social media platform X as proof of his recovery.

Statements have been issued and then contradicted. And while the MK Party has cancelled its final election rally, its officials insist Zuma remains in charge.

The pattern has left supporters, journalists and analysts asking whether the party can survive without the man who is both its founder and its sole gravitational force – less than three weeks before the 4 November local government elections, the first the three-year-old party is contesting.

The contradictions began almost immediately.

READ | MK Party cancels final rally ahead of 4 November elections as Zuma remains in hospital

On 7 October, the day after Zuma’s admission, MKP spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu told News24 the former president was “as fit as a fiddle” and “healthy and in good spirits,” insisting his hospitalisation was a routine check-up he underwent twice a year.

The following day, a Zuma confidant told News24 that “he’s been sick these days” – a direct contradiction of the party’s upbeat assessment.

In the week of Zuma’s hospitalisation, his brother Khanya told News24 the situation “was not looking good”.

By 11 October, News24 reported that the Zuma family had ruled out an airlift to a military hospital and insisted he be treated in KwaZulu-Natal.

While the family has remained mum on Zuma’s health, government has pleaded for his privacy to be respected.

On Tuesday night this week, information began circulating that Zuma had been discharged and was recovering at home, with people on social media posting videos of Zuma walking down what appeared to be a hotel lobby, accompanied by his security entourage and a woman carrying a bag of clothes.

READ | Fact Check: Manyi’s claims of unequal treatment for Zuma contradicted by evidence

News24 verified that this was an old video.

The information was shared by credible sources to the extent that it was aired on eNCA.

This week Mahlangu also shared a Facebook post which suggested that Zuma had been discharged from hospital.

Spokesperson for the JZ Foundation, Mzwanele Manyi, confirmed that “reports that H.E President Zuma has been discharged are NOT true”.

On Wednesday evening, Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile, posted a video on X showing Zuma lifting light weights in what appeared to be a private gym.

News24 has confirmed that that was also an old video, and that Zuma, as of Thursday morning, was “weak but now feeling much better”.

Another source told News24 that Zuma was “super good and healthy”.

Also on Wednesday, MK Party Secretary General Sibonelo Nomvalo told eNCA that the party was aware that Zuma was the “father of the nation”.

“He is a family man, also, and I think we must respect that. I think at this time, we must afford his family his privacy, and afford him some privacy. We all deserve privacy.”

On Thursday, Manyi pleaded for Zuma’s privacy to be respected: “The Foundation will not be giving a minute by minute update on H.E President Zuma. You are requested to afford President Zuma PRIVACY and DIGNITY he deserves. The permanent enquiries are not appreciated. We see it as PERSECUTION & INVASION of privacy.

“The Foundation will not be giving a minute by minute update on H.E President Zuma. You are requested to afford President Zuma PRIVACY and DIGNITY he deserves. The permanent enquiries are not appreciated. We see it as PERSECUTION & INVASION of privacy.”

Rumours of Zuma being discharged have been swirling this week, but News24 has visited Netcare St Anne’s Hospital in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, several times, and Zuma’s security entourage was still parked on the first floor of the hospital parking garage.

The vehicles included one black BMW with a presidential seal, which has been seen there since Zuma was hospitalised last week.

ALSO READ | Ntshavheni urges respect for Zuma’s privacy as former president remains in KZN hospital

When News24 arrived at the hospital on Wednesday morning, about seven supporters clad in party regalia were standing outside. They claimed they were there to address labour-related issues.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, one said:

Ubaba (Zuma) is here to rest. You will never see ubaba when he’s ill. If he was seriously ill, he’d be in Russia or India. He’s here to rest and relax. This is a family thing. We need to respect that even though he is a head of state, he is still a family man.

Another said: “There have been a lot of media reports about him being unwell. Some said he’s discharged. What we know is that he’s here for a routine check-up, and that’s what we believe.”

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, News24 reported that the MK Party cancelled its Siyathatha rally, scheduled for Sunday 18 October.

The party said the rally was cancelled to redirect resources towards community engagement and ward-level campaigning, but the announcement came amid mounting questions about Zuma’s health and his ability to lead the party’s election push.

Political analyst Zakhele Ndlovu said the conflicting messages reflected what was at stake.

He said:

Without Zuma there’s no MK Party. Before Zuma was admitted to the hospital, there was a rally in uMhlathuze, and he was scheduled to speak there. He ended up not showing up, and people swore at the leaders because they went there to see Zuma.

“This goes to show that everything revolves around Zuma, even decisions are made by him, including the chopping and changing of people in the party. There is no one who commands the respect and authority that is commanded by Zuma. If he were to drop dead today, there is no MK.”

With the local government elections weeks away, without Zuma the outcomes will change, he said.

“It’s all about Zuma. If you remove Zuma, there is no MK Party.”

WATCH I Former president Jacob Zuma remains at Netcare St Anne's Hospital in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, where he is under the care of the surgeon-general. @News24 pic.twitter.com/5HylQkiQMN

— Amanda Khoza-Dlamini - The Journalist (@MandaKhoza) October 11, 2026

A News24 poll of 1 000 registered voters in eThekwini, KZN and conducted by SABI Strategy Group between 25 August and 17 September, found that if the local government elections were held today, the MKP would win 43% of the vote in the city. This is nearly four times the ANC’s 11% and well ahead of the DA’s 30%.

Asked if members would not give the party a sympathy vote, similar to how IFP voters voted in honours of the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi in 2024, Ndlovu said it was unlikely.

“It’s tough to compare the MK Party to IFP simply because even though the IFP was centred around [clan name] Shenge, the thing is, this is a party that was formed in 1975, and for a long time, he was the president and then he anointed Velenkosini Hlabisa.”

The IFP, unlike the MK Party, is a well-established political party with a long history, he said.

“So, it will take some time before it disappears, but ultimately it will also disappear. It still needs to hold its elective conference. They keep postponing it. Because if they do hold it, it will be the most divisive conference and could lead to the implosion of the party.”

In the MK Party’s case, Ndlovu said the party has never held an elective conference.

He said:

Zuma has anointed his son, but tell me who is going to listen to Duduzane? I have never even heard him speak isiZulu. What is going to happen in the MK Party is that they are going to kill each other. Zuma is fighting his own political battles, and he is using people to do so.

Duduzane Zuma was appointed as the party’s first deputy president in August, replacing John Hlophe, the latest in a string of leadership changes that underscore the party’s reliance on Zuma’s personal authority.

According to Ndlovu, Zuma is also using the Zulu nation because he knows that he is well respected among them.

“He is using that to exploit the political space. If he dies, his legacy will not be great. His legacy is built around the ANC, and he is no longer the ANC.”

READ MORE | Zuma family rules out airlift to military hospital, insists on KZN treatment

Zuma’s tenure as state president, between 2009 and 2018, was overshadowed by state capture.

“Even when you talk to people who were in exile with him, they don’t have good things to say about him,” said Ndlovu, referring to Zuma’s well-known issues with money and fondness for women.

Asked why the MK Party was sending conflicting information to its members, Ndlovu said: “It’s because they know that if there are doubts about his health, they know it could cost them because there are people who are going to vote on 4 November simply because they support Zuma and not the MK Party. If Zuma is unwell or he dies, people are not going to vote for the MK Party.”

Professor Susan Booysen added that the MKP, more than any other SA party, pivots around a single leader.

“Jacob Zuma is the leader that also continuously rearranged the rest, specifically to disempower and control. Without a hierarchy, there can be anarchy when the pivot disintegrates. In relation to followers, Zuma is the icon and hero, carrying both history and current-day resistance to the ANC, in a way from ‘within’ the ANC. No other leader brings that. MKP gravitas and momentum will be damaged severely without Zuma at the helm.”

Another analyst, Sandile Swana added that while Zuma was like any other human being and was likely to be sick from time to time, Zuma has been sick when it was time to testify. On 22 October, Zuma is scheduled to testify at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Cases Inquiry, chaired by Justice Sisi Khampepe, which is investigating alleged political interference in the prosecution of apartheid-era crimes.

“He has been sick in his other cases before. At the same time, the sickness could help him to defer his testimony, which has already been deferred. But the timing is tricky because he is supposed to be active on the campaign trail for MKP.

“But he has got to maintain an image to the Khampepe Commission of being unwell, so it’s not easy for him, but we would still nevertheless hope that his lieutenants know what to do and that he is able to issue instructions from his hospital bed.“

While few people are likely to be persuaded, especially as MKP have gone so far to cancel their final rally, Swana warned that it would not be the first time that Zuma had created a false narrative about his health.

“There is precedent that this might be a manufactured narrative, and he is probably active at supplying instructions to his MKP.”