Ex-leader linked to ANCYL meeting brawl
DISBANDED ANC youth league (ANCYL) provincial executive chairman Nathi Nqoko has been identified as the mastermind behind the chaos at a weekend ANCYL elective conference in the Alfred Nzo region.
The conference had to be aborted before before registration of delegates was completed.
An alleged exchange of gunfire and bloody assaults led to 15 league members being injured and treated in hospital.
The region’s leadership yesterday claimed that Nqoko led a group of “unaccredited and uninvited” members who stormed the registration venue and allegedly assaulted delegates and then fired shots outside the conference venue.
The league’s Alfred Nzo regional chairman Nelson Xolo yesterday said after their regional executive committee meeting they had resolved to report Nqoko’s alleged conduct to police.
However, it was not clear at the time of writing if a case had been opened as emaXesibeni (formerly Mount Ayliff) police spokesman Captain Mlungisi Matidane could not be reached for comment.
Nqoko however denied the allegations, labelling them “pure lies and propaganda aimed at tarnishing my good name”.
Xolo claimed that Nqoko had led a “huge group” who had stormed the venue, switched off the lights and started assaulting those inside.
“The disgruntled group which had complained about allegedly being sidelined in the preparations for the weekend conference, used chairs and fists to attack delegates,” charged Xolo.
He added that the group later went outside, “where people’s vehicles were shot at by the same group led by the former provincial chair”.
Nqoko confirmed he was not among delegates meant to attend the weekend conference, and also confirmed he was at the conference venue.
He however denied he was involved in any assault or shooting of people’s vehicles.
“Yes I was at the venue, but I was not leading anyone and I did not see anyone being assaulted. I only heard about the alleged assault from some of the people who had attended.
“It is not true that I orchestrated anything that happened there. As for shooting at people’s cars, well that is a lie because I don’t even own a gun,” Nqoko said.
Asked why he went to the venue when he was not an invited delegate, Nqoko said the process to identify delegates in branches was flawed.
“Hence there were many disgruntled branches and members from across the region who had gone to the venue,” said Nqoko.
Nqoko was elected provincial ANCYL chair in a conference in East London in 2014 which also turned violent with some delegates admitted to hospital after sustaining injuries during the fracas.
The provincial executive he led was disbanded last November by the league’s national executive committee after it was accused of lagging behind in pushing league programmes. They were replaced with a provincial task team, but the provincial executive has since appealed the decision, the outcome of which is still pending. — asandan@dispatch.co.za