JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Former ANC president and current Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party founder Jacob Zuma has finally been expelled from the organisation he once led.

This after ANC’s national disciplinary committee of appeal upheld the decision of the party’s national disciplinary appeal to expel Zuma from the party.

Zuma launched the breakaway party last December while claiming to still be a member of the ANC, a strategy which paid off at the polls on 29 May when MK party took 14% of the vote — and the parliamentary majority the ANC had held since 1994.

Zuma was suspended and charged in terms of the ANC’s constitution, with the committee finding against him and expelling him last month, a decision which he appealed.

ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said in a statement on Friday afternoon that Zuma’s behaviour had been the “highest form of ill-discipline” and had been a “direct attack on the historical mission of the ANC”.

“By establishing and leading a rival political party, he abandoned the core values of organisational loyalty and collective accountability, converting himself into a tool for destabilisation,” she said.

“As a former president of the ANC, Mr Zuma was expected to embody the highest standards of disciplined leadership and advanced cadres who serve as guides and inspiration for all members of our movement and society.

“Instead, his actions have undermined the unity and cohesion of the movement at a time when it is critical to consolidate and push forward with organisational renewal and confront the pressing challenges facing South Africa,” she said.

Zuma’s “severe breach” of the ANC’s organisational discipline had necessitated his expulsion to safeguard its integrity and unity.

The ANC will never permit an individual, regardless of stature or historical contribution, to undermine its mission to build a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society,” Bhengu-Motsiri said.

She said the expulsion reaffirmed the ANC’s commitment to revolutionary morality and discipline and to democratic centralism.

“This decision must serve as a reminder that no individual is greater than the movement, and that the ANC strength lies in its collective leadership and unwavering dedication to the aspirations of the people,” she said.

Zuma, who served two terms as ANC president and president of the country until his recall by the party in February 2018, has argued that he remains a party member and that his formation of the MK party is aimed at “saving” it from its current leadership.

This despite the fact that the MK party is the official opposition in parliament and in KwaZulu-Natal.

MK party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela did not respond to a request for comment from the Mail & Guardian. Mail & Guardian