- The ANC’s Andile Lungisa has appealed to the party’s provincial structures to call to order Nelson Mandela Bay regional task team co-ordinator Luyolo Nqakula.
- Lungisa was sent a letter notifying him of an intention to suspend his membership in August.
- He claims Nqakula is in cahoots with the DA.
Embattled ANC member and former youth league deputy president Andile Lungisa has lodged a complaint appealing to the party’s Eastern Cape secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi against his impending suspension.
In a letter seen by News24, Lungisa accused regional task team (RTT) co-ordinator Luyolo Nqakula of colluding with DA provincial leader Nqaba Bhanga to topple the ANC coalition government in Nelson Mandela Bay.
Last month, the RTT sent Lungisa a letter asking him to step down as both an ANC councillor and branch member.
Nqakula also informed Lungisa a decision was taken to request the provincial executive to suspend his membership of the party.
Lungisa, who enjoys influence in the metro with support from several ANC branches, told Ngcukayitobi he found the letter informing him to step down suspect.
READ| Andile Lungisa goes for the jugular as he is instructed to resign ANC membership to be suspended
He accused the RTT of harassing him after he was cleared of charges of bringing the party’s image into disrepute.
He wrote:
“Now, after 28 days I am being hunted, harassed, purged and subjected to a sin of double jeopardy, all in the name of our glorious movement.”
Lungisa claimed Nqakula had sent him a letter informing him to step down as the party’s national executive committee (NEC) was meeting to discuss issues on corruption.
He said the letter was sent even before the NEC resolved that those found to have been implicated of wrongdoing step aside.
Lungisa is currently fighting to have his aggravated assault conviction lifted. He was found guilty of assaulting a DA councillor with a glass jug during a heated council meeting in 2018.
“I even wonder if the letter is the decision of the RTT because it would be unfortunate if the communication of the secretary-general [Ace Magashule] asking the structures of the ANC to submit names for processing was misconstrued as a power for the RTT co-ordinator to arbitrarily suspend members of the ANC without due process even invoking deployment of public representatives and the right of membership to serve in their branches,” he said, adding Nqakula had jumped the gun in NEC meeting outcomes.
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Lungisa’s was one of the names the provincial leadership flagged in its report to the NEC.
Magashule has instructed provincial secretaries to register a list of names of individuals who are implicated in wrongdoing.
In its report, the ANC in the Eastern Cape said it decided to recall Lungisa from being a member of the mayoral committee and he had “defied” it and opted to appeal the recall to national officials.
“This was denied and he was charged for defiance and he pleaded ignorance of the recall instructions and offered to submit his resignation immediately. The provincial disciplinary committee accepted his resignation.”
‘A clear demonstration of orchestrated anarchy’
Responding, Nqakula said the allegations made by Lungisa were a figment of his imagination.
He added the fact was the ANC was not the absolute political authority in council and thus did not have a 50+1 majority therefore it reserved the right to engage and lobby parties around certain positions it had at a particular point in time as it did at the 5 December meeting where it led the process of attempting to stabilise the administration through the appointment of executive directors and an appointment of acting city manager.
“If anything, it is Lungisa who is on record to have signed a petition of the DA last, which was meant to remove then-mayor Bobani. It was him and four other councillors, they had to be instructed to retract their signatures.
“What was done at the regional office is a clear demonstration of orchestrated anarchy, it is no coincidence that people were mobilised to disrupt the ANC a day after Lungisa was sent a letter.
“As such, we have submitted a report to the provincial leadership in order for the appropriate action to be taken against those who have acted in a manner which is not consistent with the discipline of the ANC,” Nqakula said.
Branch members in the region protested at the regional headquarters in August demanding the removal of the RTT.
He added it was inaccurate that the letter to possibly suspend his ANC membership was sent to the media, saying: “The RTT has called on the PEC through its structures to enact a certain provision of the constitution, this was done guided by the understanding of the constitution of the ANC that certain powers reside with certain structures as per the constitution of the ANC.”
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