Acting parliamentary leader for the official opposition uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), Des van Rooyen, has said that while he is happy with how the party has been fulfilling its role in Parliament; however, there is still room for improvement.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA), Van Rooyen not only shared the party’s criticisms of it, but also shared insight into how he has been adjusting to the role and how the MKP has fared.

Van Rooyen was appointed after the first deputy president and parliamentary leader, Dr John Hlophe, was suspended with immediate effect, pending a full investigation into his conduct, in November last year.

The decision was announced after party President Jacob Zuma returned from a trip to Burkina Faso and convened a meeting with senior MK Party officials, where he was briefed about changes made in the National Assembly without broader consultation.

At the time, the party said Zuma had issued a precautionary suspension to Hlophe from both his leadership roles in order to reaffirm the principle of collective leadership across all party structures.

The party also nullified Hlophe’s decision to remove chief whip Collen Makhubele and appointed Van Rooyen in her place, saying the leadership remained united and committed to discipline, accountability, and collective decision-making as outlined in the party constitution.

Van Rooyen said that when leading a collective like MKP in Parliament, it is “a collective that is driven by the principle of unity”.

“You work with your team. So it’s always easy, even if you’re not a party leader, to learn how a party leader is executing what is mandated. I learned, of course, while I was under the leadership of Dr Hlophe, and truly speaking, it’s just a continuation.

“I was part of his leadership team for the MK Caucus because I’m the whip of a cluster on governance. So it has been a continuation of where he left off,” Van Rooyen said.

“We are a new party which is, to a large extent, comprised of people with first-time experience in Parliament (legislation), not even the public sector, but just Parliament, you know? So definitely, we hit the ground running.

“Of course, some of us who have been there before, it’s always an added advantage. It has not been that difficult to continue where Dr Hlophe left.”

Speaking of how the party has been fulfilling its role as the opposition, he said that he has been “very happy” given the number of changes that they have effected in the rules of Parliament, “but also the introduction of what you call Private Members’ Bills (PMBs)”.

PMBs give individual MPs a direct means to propose new laws or amendments, enhancing oversight, accountability, and public participation in the legislative process.

Van Rooyen added that he has been happy with the number of questions and the quality of those questions that have been posed by MKP members to Parliament.

“As I’ve indicated, it took us some time to reach this level, and I’m happy that the reception of all the training efforts has been positive among our members. As a result, I think we are almost there, and definitely there is room for improvement for us to continue demonstrating that we are the official opposition party,” Van Rooyen said.

theolin.tembo@inl.co.za

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