Members of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party’s parliamentary caucus have formally called on party president Jacob Zuma to initiate a forensic investigation into approximately R70 million they allege has gone unaccounted for from the party’s constituency office budget.
The call follows a high-stakes caucus meeting convened in Cape Town last week, where MPs resolved to escalate the matter directly to Zuma and second deputy president Tony Yengeni. Multiple senior sources confirmed that the letter would request an independent audit into the spending, which MPs claim has failed to translate into functional constituency offices since the party entered Parliament last year.
According to insider accounts, Parliament allocates constituency funding to political parties to operationalise offices that support public engagement, casework, and legislative oversight within communities. Sources indicate that MK, which holds 58 seats in the National Assembly and five in the National Council of Provinces, receives approximately R6.3 million per month in constituency funding — equating to roughly R100 000 per MP.
Despite these allocations, caucus members allege that not a single constituency office has been opened under the party’s parliamentary banner.
“Since 2024, we haven’t had any constituency offices. Every member must have an office where people can find them, because you represent Parliament,” a senior party insider said. “Parliament pays for that purpose. It is not a party office, it is a constituency office, and you must account for that money. But ours has gone over R70 million, and it’s unaccounted for.”
Separate accounts from caucus members describe a deepening rift over what they characterise as systemic financial opacity. MPs are said to have raised concerns over expenditure patterns involving salaries, private security, accommodation, and contracts awarded to external travel agencies, with several alleging that costs appear inflated or inadequately documented.
Another MP, speaking on condition of anonymity, said frustration had reached breaking point. “We want a forensic audit because we want offices to service our people. Right now, there are no offices. The money has been allocated, the money has been spent, but it cannot be traced to actual constituency infrastructure.”
The scale of the claims paired with internal pressure for transparency places significant strain on the party’s leadership at a moment when MK is still consolidating its parliamentary structures and administrative systems.
Neither Zuma nor Yengeni had publicly responded at the time of publication. Should the investigation proceed, it could become one of the most consequential internal financial reviews the party has faced since securing its parliamentary foothold.
Political analysts say a forensic probe would test MK’s institutional credibility, internal cohesion, and claims of ethical governance in a political climate with heightened scrutiny on party funding and parliamentary resource accountability.
