{"id":503592,"date":"2026-11-03T05:38:30","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T05:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/503592\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T05:38:30","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T05:38:30","slug":"eff-rally-appearance-renews-scrutiny-of-duduzile-zuma-sambudlas-political-loyalties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/503592\/","title":{"rendered":"EFF rally appearance renews scrutiny of Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla’s political loyalties"},"content":{"rendered":"

Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla’s<\/a> appearance at the EFF’s Tshela Thupa rally in Soweto on Saturday, followed by her presence at an MK Party gathering in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday, has again put her political allegiance under the spotlight.<\/p>\n

The daughter of former president and MK Party leader Jacob Zuma<\/a> was among those spotted at the EFF rally at Orlando Stadium, where she wore a black T-shirt bearing the words \u201cFreedom Fighters\u201d.<\/p>\n

She also shared photographs from the stadium on X and wrote: \u201cProgressive Caucus Unite\u201d.<\/p>\n

Her appearance has fuelled speculation about a possible move to the EFF, particularly given that she was expelled from the MK Party in June alongside its former national spokesperson, Nhlamulo Ndhlela.<\/a><\/p>\n

However, Zuma-Sambudla has not publicly announced that she has joined the EFF.<\/p>\n

In an interview with journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika on the Unpopular Opinion podcast, Zuma-Sambudla maintained that she considered herself part of the MK Party’s founding membership, arguing that she could not simply join an organisation she had helped establish.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think just for purposes of membership, you have to join. I call myself and I consider myself a part of founding members of the party. So you can’t join something you’re helping to grow and build,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her remarks come despite the MK Party’s announcement in June that her membership had been terminated with immediate effect.<\/p>\n

The party accused Zuma-Sambudla and Ndhlela of conduct that undermined organisational unity, discipline and cohesion.<\/p>\n

Among its complaints were her public statements and social media posts, which it said challenged recognised leadership structures and exposed internal party matters.<\/p>\n

The pair challenged their expulsions in the Johannesburg High Court, arguing that the party had not followed its own constitutional procedures. Their urgent application was struck from the roll on procedural grounds, without the court deciding the merits of their challenge.<\/p>\n

Zuma-Sambudla says she will continue supporting MK Party<\/p>\n

The question of where Zuma-Sambudla stands politically is not new.<\/p>\n

IOL previously reported in September that her appearances in ANC, EFF and MK Party regalia had prompted questions about her political position, after she was seen wearing the different parties’ clothing in separate social media videos.<\/p>\n

At the time, EFF member Mayibuye Mandela called on her to clarify her position, saying the party’s regalia and symbols represented its values and should not be used merely for social media content.<\/p>\n

Zuma-Sambudla’s latest comments on the podcast offer further insight into her continued association with the MK Party, despite her expulsion.<\/p>\n

She has previously maintained that her support for the organisation does not depend on holding a formal leadership position.<\/p>\n

Her family’s involvement in the party also formed part of the podcast discussion, with the interviewer raising the fact that her father leads the organisation and her twin brother, Duduzane Zuma, is its first deputy president.<\/p>\n

Zuma-Sambudla rejected the suggestion that the MK Party was a family organisation, defending her family’s decision to help build the movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not. It’s just unfortunate that other people, leaders, are not as great as Jacob Zuma, who can build and conceptualise this party and have adult kids that want to assist. There’s nothing wrong with that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She argued that her siblings were independent thinkers and were free to choose their own political affiliations, pointing out that some remained in the ANC.<\/p>\n

She said their differing political choices had not caused divisions within the family, adding that they were able to joke with one another about their respective party affiliations.<\/p>\n

Neither an announcement from Zuma-Sambudla nor confirmation from the EFF has established that she has joined the red berets.<\/p>\n

[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

IOL Politics\u00a0<\/p>\n

Get your news on the go. Download the latest IOL App for\u00a0Android<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0IOS<\/a>\u00a0now<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla’s appearance at the EFF’s Tshela Thupa rally in Soweto on Saturday, followed by her presence at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[52],"tags":[4332,1695,6742,159183,58092,7394,233052,3540,10568,1696,4456,7695,2818,233048,10241,233051,209958,233053,233049,131,5735,233050],"class_list":["post-503592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-south-africa","tag-anc","tag-android","tag-daughter","tag-duduzile-zuma","tag-duduzile-zuma-sambudla","tag-eff","tag-freedom-fighters","tag-iol","tag-iol-politics","tag-ios","tag-jacob-zuma","tag-johannesburg-high-court","tag-kwazulu-natal","tag-mayibuye-mandela","tag-mk-party","tag-mzilikazi-wa-afrika","tag-orlando-stadium","tag-progressive-caucus-unite","tag-sambudla","tag-south-africa","tag-soweto","tag-tshela-thupa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/117550901230109863","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}