EC speaker accused of assault

NYANDENI Municipality speaker Nozipho Mathanda could find herself in hot water after she allegedly assaulted 61-year-old Nomaza Ngongo during an ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) annual general meeting in Libode at the weekend.

Ngongo, who suffers from diabetes, claims she has bruises on her chest after Mathanda assaulted her when she asked why the ANCWLO R Tambo regional deputy chairwoman had been two hours late for the meeting.

When she tried to open a case at the Libode police station on Saturday, she was allegedly told to return tomorrow with Mathanda, Ngongo claimed.

Police spokeswoman Captain Dineo Koena said she would follow up on why a case had not been opened.

Ngongo told the Daily Dispatch yesterday that her “mistake” had been to ask why the meeting started two hours after the scheduled time.

“I didn’t know the ANC Women’s League now has two groups because it turned out she [Mathanda] was meeting with other delegates at the municipal boardroom while we waited in the hall.

“After she told me I didn’t have a branch I belong to, she either punched or poked me in the chest before she was dragged away by her bodyguard.

“I didn’t expect what she did because I went there as an invited ANC Women’s League veteran,” said Ngongo, adding that Mathanda had later apologised.

“I decided that I would open a case so maybe she can tell the magistrate why she was apologising. But I was told [by police] to come back on Tuesday [tomorrow] with her.

“I’m really hurt by what she did. And now my chest is bruised,” Ngongo said.

ANCWL provincial executive committee member Nomkhitha Mgugudo, who was deployed to oversee the meeting, corroborated Ngongo’s story.

“She assaulted her in full view of the people who were at the meeting. What she did was not exemplary.

“The branches that were there said they will write a letter to the region and the province to complain and demand that action be taken against Mathanda for what she did.

“And as the PEC deployee, I testify to what I saw,” she said.

Contacted for comment yesterday, Mathanda would neither confirm nor deny the incident.

“I am not giving you permission to write about me. If she is fighting with me, I am not fighting with her,” she said before ending the call.

ANCWL provincial secretary Nolitha Ntobongwana said she had heard about the alleged assault but was still waiting for a formal report.

“But if this is true, it is very very wrong for a leader to assault someone, let alone an elderly woman. As leaders we should always lead by example,” she said. — will