On his birthday, ANC secretary-general Fikile April Mbalula took the war to ANC Eastern Cape provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi, which is becoming a legendary political escalation in the former liberation movement in recent times.
After Ngcukayitobi sent a letter to ANC national officials on March 19, accusing Mbalula of manipulating processes before the failed Eastern Cape provincial conference, Mbalula responded strongly during the Amathole regional conference.
After the secretary-general initially downplayed the letter during the Amathole regional conference gathering, it ended in tears when the high court in KuGompo agreed with Ngcukayitobi that not all was well in build-up processes and interdicted the conference, in what became a more than R15-million wasteful expenditure.
Mbalula has since sought to have the last laugh, penning a scathing letter to Ngcukayitobi in what many would have thought would have been a day away from politics, as Mbalula turned 55 years old on Wednesday.
Manipulation of QR code
The former ANC Youth League president, dubbed “Vutha” for his fiery stance in politics, opens his letter by stating the reason for his very delayed official reply.
He was apparently waiting for Ngcukayitobi to present his letter to the ANC national officials on Monday, which he did.
But he takes exception to the political escalation that has since descended into the courts of law telling a liberation movement older than a century how to follow its constitution and conference guidelines.
“The secretary-general’s office must state plainly that the manner in which your letter was framed, escalated, and circulated was reckless in its effect,” writes Mbalula in a heavy-toned letter to Ngcukayitobi, in which ANC top brass, led by ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa, is copied.
“Serious allegations were tabled in a manner that treated them as though they were already established fact, when many of those allegations had not yet been tested through the internal processes created by the ANC constitution and the revised conference guidelines for that very purpose.
“That approach materially contributed to organisational disrepute and later found expression in the wider litigation and lawfare environment confronting the movement.”
Ngcukayitobi’s letter had alleged widespread irregularities such as manipulation of QR code scanners for branch general meetings and accused Mbalula of allowing the same to flourish.
Chief protagonist
Mbalula is irked by Ngcukayittobi’s posture of insulating himself from the alleged manipulations.
As a head of ANC administration in the “Home of Legends” province, Mbalula charges that Ngcukayitobi was the chief protagonist of every provincial conference process.
“You were centrally located within the provincial organisational environment that generated the original roadmap and the conference-preparation sequence,” writes Mbalula in the letter we have seen.
“The movement is therefore entitled to take the view that you cannot sleep on duty within a process falling squarely within your organisational remit and later complain upward using untested material that could and should have been properly tested through the very structures available to you.”
Mbalula continues to lecture Ngcukayitobi, explaining why he believes his complaint was misplaced, misguided, and malicious, and therefore deserves dismissal.
It remains to be seen how this response will be viewed in light of ongoing litigation, which includes an interim high court interdict against the provincial conference and a contempt of court lawsuit in which Mbalula is the first and top defendant.
- ANC Secretary-General Fikile April Mbalula responded strongly to Eastern Cape provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi's allegations of procedural manipulation ahead of the botched provincial conference.
- Ngcukayitobi's March 19 letter to ANC national officials accused Mbalula of overseeing irregularities, including manipulation of QR code scanners, leading to court intervention and a halted conference.
- The high court ruled in favor of Ngcukayitobi, interdicting the conference and causing over R15 million in wasteful expenditure.
- Mbalula’s scathing reply accuses Ngcukayitobi of reckless escalation and bypassing internal ANC processes designed to handle such disputes.
- The conflict highlights deep divisions within the ANC, with ongoing litigation implicating Mbalula as the primary defendant in a contempt of court case.
On his birthday, ANC secretary-general Fikile April
After
After the secretary-general initially downplayed the letter during the
He was apparently waiting for
But he takes exception to the political escalation that has since descended into the courts of law telling a liberation movement older than a century how to follow its constitution and conference guidelines.
“
“Serious allegations were tabled in a manner that treated them as though they were already established fact, when many of those allegations had not yet been tested through the internal processes created by the ANC constitution and the revised conference guidelines for that very purpose.
“
As a head of ANC administration in the “Home of
“You were centrally located within the provincial organisational environment that generated the original roadmap and the conference-preparation sequence,” writes
“
It remains to be seen how this response will be viewed in light of ongoing litigation, which includes an interim high court interdict against the provincial conference and a contempt of court lawsuit in which
