A former Free State ANCYL secretary has called the integrity of the latest provincial league congress into question.
Mayibuye Bangani wrote to the ANCYL and incumbent secretary Mntuwoxolo Ngudle to ask that the elective conference held earlier this month be investigated.
Bangani, Xolani Tseletsele and Kopanong mayor and former provincial ANC chairperson lost their leadership positions. In fact, the congress elected only men to the top five leadership positions. This raised eyebrows and prompted Bangani’s concerns.
The claim is the list was manipulated
In his letter, Bangani accused ANCYL 1st deputy secretary Tsakani Shiviti of manipulating the congress in favour of her preferred candidates. He alleged that national organisers brought an audit report to the congress at odds with the one signed by Ngudle. This report, according to Bangani, included delegate names not in the final audit report.
“The national organising team came with printed name tags for individuals who were not properly elected as delegates. They claimed they were acting on orders from the 1st DSG, Tsakane Shiviti, to consider only her audit report,” Bangani stated.
Bangani also urged Ngudle to probe the legitimacy of the congress. He suggested that Shiviti’s conduct and the organisers violated party guidelines. Bangani claims that the adoption of the disputed audit report affected the rights of 136 legitimate voting delegates based on age, contrary to long-standing practices.
Were legitimate delegates excluded?
He pointed to the inexplicable exclusion of 57 voting delegates from the Regional Executive Committees (RECs) and Provincial Executive Committees (PECs). He said according to the final audit, 574 delegates were expected yet only 533 ballot papers were printed. This means 57 votes are unaccounted for.
“Our registration process was based on the final audit signed by the SG. Yet, the Elexions Agency printed 533 ballots while 476 delegates voted, leaving 55 ballots unused,” he said.
“What happened to the other two ballots, and why were there two voters’ rolls? Where did Shiviti’s team obtain the names of the bogus delegates?”
Election agency criticised
Bangani criticised the agency for its failure to account for the discrepancies. He said this allowed non-voting delegates to participate in the congress. Bangani questioned how the 1st DSG’s bodyguard accessed the ballot box during the call for a recount, and how this didn’t lead to a criminal case for theft being filed with police.
He further alleged Shiviti manipulated delegate lists after the congress so asked for it to be investigated. Bangani asked that the National Executive Committee (NEC) determine the legitimacy of the conference. He suggested a rerun of the congress.
Shiviti stated that Bangani’s allegations had been addressed at a recent NEC meeting. “All concerns of comrade Mayibuye were cleared as false. There is nothing wrong I have done on my part. The case is closed,” she said.
Ngudle did not respond to requests for comment.
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