Lungisa ‘ready’ to step down from Bay post
Andile Lungisa is ready to step down as ANC Nelson Mandela Bay regional chairman, but said he is now going to contest the position of the party’s provincial secretary for Eastern Cape in July.
Andile Lungisa is ready to step down as ANC Nelson Mandela Bay regional chairman, but says he is going to contest the position of the party’s Eastern Cape provincial secretary at its conference in July.
The ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting, which concluded on Sunday, discussed the matter and agreed that Lungisa should step down.
This comes after he was elected ANC regional chairman of Nelson Mandela Bay earlier this month, a position he was not eligible to stand for as he was already a member of a higher party structure.
He had apparently stood for the position in defiance of ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and had accused Luthuli House of misinterpreting the party’s rules. An NEC official said some members including former ANC Youth League treasurer Pule Mabe, who had defended Lungisa, were defeated at the meeting.
The NEC concluded that Lungisa should resign from the regional chairmanship position.
Lungisa has now set his sights on the position of provincial secretary, held by Oscar Mabuyane, who is believed to be vying for the position of chairman, now occupied by Eastern Cape Premier Phumulo Masualle, at the provincial conference in July.
Lungisa said on Sunday he was “no Mickey Mouse” politician and he was confident of success should he challenge for the provincial secretary post.
His plan to vie for the position paves the way for a fierce battle ahead of the conference.
His declaration came in the wake of reports that President Jacob Zuma, who flew to Port Elizabeth to congratulate him after his election as regional chairman, had reportedly backed him at the NEC meeting at the weekend.
It was also reported that Lungisa’s matter made it into the NEC meeting despite Mantashe’s insistence late last week that it was not on the agenda.
Lungisa has repeatedly defied Mabuyane and Mantashe, both of whom had ordered him to resign before the weekend’s executive meeting.
On Sunday, Lungisa said he was unaware of a decision by the NEC that he must resign. He said should that come to pass, he would aim even higher.
“If the NEC comes out and says ‘Please Lungisa, out of this difficulty, you must step down … [as Nelson Mandela Bay chair], I will do so. Then I will become the provincial secretary in the Eastern Cape,” he said.