ANC members heckled three national working committee (NWC) leaders in New Brighton in the Eastern Cape this week, demanding that secretary-general Fikile Mbalula address them. His rival and fellow NEC member, Andile Lungisa, was inside the packed hall as the meeting collapsed before it began.
The anti-Mbalula bloc growing in the former liberation movement appears to have found fertile ground in the province, where the ANC administration boss is at war with two prominent individuals — Lungisa and provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi.
Before the NWC visit, Ngcukayitobi had served Mbalula with a cease-and-desist letter, while Lungisa was battling him in the Johannesburg High Court over the November 4 candidates list.
Mbalula has lost the review application Lungisa launched, with the court ordering his reinstatement to the ANC proportional representation list for Nelson Mandela Bay metro, in which he is said to have been on top. But before the Friday ruling, Mbalula faced unprecedented hostility on Monday when ANC members at a meeting in New Brighton demanded to be addressed by him and no one else.
ANC Women’s League secretary-general Nokuthula Nqaba, Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane and ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu were heckled with strict demands that Mbalula come and address members in person.
Bhengu said the ANC was doing a deep dive to establish what caused the hostility.
“We are verifying the circumstances and will provide clarity once facts have been established.
“The ANC remains committed to engaging structures and addressing the concerns raised in the Eastern Cape. Some of the concerns are matters before the court; we will allow the court process to unfold.”
An NWC member, who attended the visit but did not want to be named, said: “Hostile crowds are nothing new to ANC leaders, but what … should alarm every member is an NEC member standing with those who silence his colleagues in an official meeting convened by an organisation they all serve. To make matters worse, the unfortunate incident did not look spontaneous at all.
“And I say this: nothing but the… common demand to have the SG address them and no one else, and the rehearsed anti-Mbalula chants, had the hallmarks of a prepared rebellion that fits into the broader agenda to bring down the secretary-general.”
Pro-Lungisa forces in the region insist that the collapse of the meeting had nothing to do with an agenda to humiliate Mbalula. Instead, they argue that members had waited five hours for Mbalula to address issues affecting the organisation and were naturally agitated when he did not show up.
Nelson Mandela Bay regional spokesperson Bamanye Matiwane said members were hungry by the time Simelane, Nqaba and Bhengu arrived and were concerned about leaving late at night.
“They waited for five hours … A lady stood up and mentioned that they did not want to have a meeting without Mbalula.”
Matiwane said that earlier, leaders had met at City Hall to discuss election readiness and candidate-list disputes. They promised a forensic report.
Despite the tension, Matiwane rejected suggestions that the engagement had descended into chaos.
“I would not say that it was chaotic because everyone was given an opportunity to speak. Both parties did co-operate and there was a general feeling that it should be postponed,” he said.
Senior ANC leaders believe those in collision with Mbalula have a coordinated campaign, with the Nelson Mandela Bay disruption part of a bigger plan.
“Look at how Ngcuka (Ngcukayitobi), in his legal letter threatening to sue Mbalula, added, unprovoked, that he personally witnessed Mbalula removing Lungisa from the list, the same claim at the heart of Lungisa’s high court application,” an ANC elder said.
“The timing is too convenient to ignore. The version by Ngcuka came exactly at the time that Lungisa needed it in court, and we now know that the court ruled against Mbalula, who is appealing the judgment.”
Nelson Mandela Bay ANC regional secretary Siphiwo Tshaka said: “We welcome the judgment as an affirmation of procedure, not as a victory over any person or structure. It speaks to how the ANC governs itself.
“The judgment reminds us that an administrative function does not carry a power to alter an adopted list unilaterally.”
The New Brighton fiasco also drew the attention of the Veterans League in Nelson Mandela Bay, which warned the ANC NEC against allowing the hostilities to continue unabated.
“This matter has now become bigger than the candidature of Cde Andile Lungisa.
“What is happening here is symptomatic of a broader organisational problem that requires comprehensive attention,” the veterans said.
- ANC members heckled three national working committee (NWC) leaders in New Brighton in the Eastern Cape this week, demanding that secretary-general Fikile Mbalula address them.
- His rival and fellow NEC member, Andile Lungisa, was inside the packed hall as the meeting collapsed before it began.
- The anti-Mbalula bloc growing in the former liberation movement appears to have found fertile ground in the province, where the ANC administration boss is at war with two prominent individuals — Lungisa and provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi.
- Before the NWC visit, Ngcukayitobi had served Mbalula with a cease-and-desist letter, while Lungisa was battling him in the Johannesburg High Court over the November 4 candidates list.
- Mbalula has lost the review application Lungisa launched, with the court ordering his reinstatement to the ANC proportional representation list for Nelson Mandela Bay metro, in which he is said to have been on top.
