ANC in Bay stands by its man Andile Lungisa
The ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay are sticking by Andile Lungisa, saying it will not replace him as a councillor until the appeal process was completed.
After he was released on bail yesterday, ANC regional secretary Themba Xathula said the party would be writing to the IEC as well as city manager Johann Mettler to indicate that Lungisa was out on bail and had a right to be in council pending the outcome of his appeal application.
This comes after Mettler declared a vacancy in council following Lungisa’s imprisonment at the North End prison.
Xathula said they would not be replacing Lungisa as he was out of jail. “We ’ll write to the IEC and to Mettler and let them know that Andile is out of jail and there will be no talk of replacing him.
“We will wait until the matter of the appeal has been concluded before doing anything.
“Andile is entitled to return to council as he’s appealing his sentencing and conviction and we may send him to the next council meeting,” Xathula said.
IEC regional supervisor Crosby Bacela said the municipality was ultimately responsible for declaring a vacancy, not the electoral commission. He explained that Mettler had already declared the vacancy with the IEC, but the position could not be filled until the ANC provided the documents of Lungisa’s replacement.
“We can’t fill the vacancy unless the political party consents and gives us the necessary documents of the person who is going to replace Lungisa,” Bacela said.
“What we know is that Andile was nominated and was a successful councillor of the ANC.
“His removal as a councillor doesn’t sit with us but it is for the municipality to state that Andile is no longer our employee because of A, B,C, D,” he said.
He referred Weekend Post to Section 47, subsection E of the constitution which states “every citizen who is qualified to vote for the National Assembly is eligible to be a member of the Assembly, except if convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment without the option of a fine”.
The constitution further states that “no one may be regarded as having been sentenced until an appeal against the conviction or sentence has been determined, or until the time for an appeal has expired and a disqualification ends five years after the sentence has been completed”.
Mettler said he had informed the IEC of the vacancy. He confirmed that Lungisa had not yet been paid his pro-rata salary for this month.
He would have been paid for the first nine days of the month.
“He has to return council property, cellphone, laptop, etc. This is standard procedure , ” Mettler said. – Additional reporting by Rochelle de Kock
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