Former president and uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party leader Jacob Zuma has announced a sweeping restructuring of the party’s leadership, dissolving the Presidential Task Team (PTT) with immediate effect and replacing it with a newly established Strategic Presidential Team (SPT), which will become the party’s highest decision-making body.
The announcement marks one of the most significant internal changes since the party was formed in late 2023 and comes as the MK Party prepares for the 2026 local government elections while seeking to strengthen its internal structures.
In a media statement issued on Monday, Zuma said the new Strategic Presidential Team has been established in terms of the party’s constitution and will assume overall responsibility for strategic leadership, governance, political direction and oversight of the organisation.
“The Presidential Task Team is hereby dissolved with immediate effect,” the statement reads, adding that all responsibilities previously exercised by the PTT will now fall under the Strategic Presidential Team.
The party said the SPT will provide strategic guidance on governance, organisational development, electoral preparedness, policy implementation and political programmes. It will also oversee the execution of resolutions adopted by the party’s leadership and ensure greater coordination across all structures.
The move follows a series of leadership changes within the MK Party in recent months, with Zuma steadily consolidating authority ahead of next year’s municipal elections. Just days before announcing the new structure, Zuma placed the office of Secretary-General Sibonelo Nomvalo under the direct authority of the party presidency, reducing the administrative powers traditionally held by the secretary-general.
Political analysts have viewed the latest changes as part of a broader effort by Zuma to tighten control over the rapidly growing organisation after a period marked by internal disputes and leadership instability. Since its launch, the MK Party has undergone several changes in its top leadership, including multiple secretary-general appointments and organisational restructures.
Earlier this year, Zuma also announced a broader reconfiguration of the party, arguing that conventional electoral politics alone was insufficient to achieve meaningful transformation. He introduced new ideological and organisational structures aimed at strengthening the party’s long-term political vision and ensuring greater discipline and cohesion within its ranks.
The establishment of the Strategic Presidential Team is expected to centralise key decision-making within the party as it intensifies preparations for the country’s municipal elections, where the MK Party hopes to expand on its strong showing in the 2024 national elections and increase its influence, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
