THEY have dark clouds hanging over them but they might emerge as MPs in May after having been named in the ANC national candidates list for the general election.
Prominent among those are:
- Disgraced former communications minister Dina Pule;
- Former ANC Youth League treasurer and fraud accused Pule Mabe; and
- Former Gauteng MEC for local government and housing Humphrey Mmemezi, who was demoted for wrongful use of an official credit card.
Mabe is placed 53, Pule 70, and Mmemezi 111 on the list.
Of the three, Pule is probably the most controversial, having been slated by public protector Thuli Madonsela for strongarming organisers of an ICT indaba in 2012 into ensuring that her boyfriend, Phosane Mngqibisa's company, Khemano, made millions from the event.
Mngqibisa diverted R6-million of R15-million in sponsorship into his company's bank account.
Parliament's ethics committee also criticised her conduct, resulting in her being publicly rebuked by Speaker of parliament Max Sisulu. Pule was relegated to the back-benches but she is winging her way back into power and influence.
Asked whether the ANC did not take Madonsela's findings seriously, party secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said yesterday: "We do. But we do know that the [office of the] public protector is not a court of law. There is no court of law called the public protector that convicts people."
Mabe was arrested in November in connection with theft, fraud and money-laundering after his companies allegedly illegally received funds from the SA Social Security Agency.
Mmemezi was demoted after abusing a state-issued credit card.
Andile Lungisa, also a former ANC Youth League leader, made the list, too, despite facing theft and money-laundering charges related to a R2.5-million payment from the Department of Arts and Culture for a Mandela sports day concert.
Meanwhile, prominent Nelson Mandela Bay politicians in ANC chief whip in parliament Stone Sizani, former mayor Zanoxolo Wayile, and Lulu Johnson, who has been an MP since 2004, are likely to return to the National Assembly after they made the list.
Former National Youth Development Agency head Lungisa, Ayanda Matiti, a former ANC Youth League leader in the province, and Eastern Cape Arts and Culture MEC Xoliswa Tom are first-time entrants on the list.
ANC regional secretary Zandisile Qupe said he was delighted with Nelson Mandela Bay's representation, as that was exactly the list of names that the regional executive committee submitted.
"That simply proves that those are the quality of people that we need to serve the ANC at that level," Qupe said.
As a region, having four names in the national list is an achievement, because it has never happened before." - Olebogeng Molatlhwa and Kingdom Mabuza
