No word on Andile Lungisa’s status
ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe would not say whether the national executive committee (NEC) had in fact decided that Andile Lungisa should step down as a member of the mayoral committee.
Lungisa believes that the NEC has not made such a decision and that the instruction for him to remain an ordinary Nelson Mandela Bay councillor is merely the wish of the ANC’s provincial bosses.
Mabe said on Wednesday he did not have a mandate to speak on the matter.
“The NEC issued a statement after the national executive committee [meeting] and that statement is out there available for anyone.”
On the disbandment of the Bay regional executive committee (REC), Mabe said the NEC did not get involved with newspapers and he was sure that if there was a decision like that, the relevant structure would have briefed the secretary-general’s office.
“If the REC has raised issues, I’m sure when the national working committee sits it will be able to deal with those issues. These issues will be part of an organisational process,” Mabe said.
Meanwhile, the REC is adamant that it has not been dissolved as it was only the national party leaders who could make such a decision.
The REC has labelled the decision by Eastern Cape bosses to dissolve its leadership structure “a factional” decision by a “factional structure”.
Regional deputy secretary Desira Davids said as much as it pained the structure to see how the current provincial executive committee came into office, it had never rejected any provincial deployees that came to the metro.
Davids said the structure was not guilty of jeopardising unity in the region and that every time there had been factional behaviour from the ANC, it came from the PEC.
“Let me put this right. We are appealing nothing because we are not disbanded.
“We are going nowhere as this REC. All we are saying is we are waiting on the national leadership to come here and intervene [because] we are not accepting any decision that has been made by a factional provincial structure in an unconstitutional manner.”
Acting regional chair Phumzile Tshuni labelled the reasons given by the party’s provincial bosses for disbanding the REC as delusional and an outright delinquent assessment of the realities faced by the party in the region.
Tshuni said attempts to dissolve the REC by the provincial bosses were unwarranted.
“This is a decision that is borderline factionalism and seeks to undermine our attempts at rejuvenating the ANC in the metro.
“We are concerned by the fact that the PEC has since its elections been undermining the authority of the REC as an elected structure.
“The PEC has on numerous occasions insisted on working with comrades comprised mostly of the collective that was in leadership when the ANC lost the 2016 local government elections.
“We have submitted the names of these comrades in the letter addressed to the NEC and have requested that the NEC deal with these comrades in the most decisive manner provisioned in the ANC constitution,” Tshuni said.
Tshuni accused the provincial bosses of consistently sidelining and victimising the leadership in the metro and said he was certain that their differences emanated from the difference in leadership preference at the 8th ANC provincial elective conference.
At a media conference at the ANC regional headquarters at Florence Matomela House, Tshuni was flanked by regional secretary Themba Xathula, Davids, treasurer Mbulelo Gidane and other members of the REC.
On Monday, the PEC decided to disband three regional executive committees in the province – the Bay, OR Tambo and Joe Gqabi regions.
In a statement, ANC provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi said the three had failed three consecutive branch audits to meet the 70% threshold of branches in good standing to hold a regional general council and elect a chair.
Xathula said the Bay structure was still waiting for communication from the NEC for Lungisa to step aside as mayoral committee member.
“We asked the [provincial working committee] and PEC where the instruction came from and we were told it came from the NEC.
“We wanted something in writing and up until now that has not come,” Xathula said.
Ngcukayitobi did not respond to calls or texts.
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