25 ANC councillors under fire for defying instructions

TWENTY-FIVE ANC councillors in the Eastern Cape, including a mayor, are in the firing line after being charged for bringing the party into disrepute.

The ANC has already temporarily suspended the membership of four of the 25, including Mnquma mayor Ndyebo Skelenge, council speaker Zibuthe Mnqwazi, chief whip Zakhele Mkiva and former chief whip Luxolo Mgandela. The four were viewed as ringleaders at a council meeting held on March 9 that was supposed to have endorsed the “deployment” of Thabo Matiwane as mayor. Instead the 25, against ANC orders, voted in favour of Skelenge as mayor.

The Dispatch can reveal today that a Mziyanda Sokujika-led ANC provincial disciplinary committee (PDC) finalised the cases on Sunday.

However, plans to announce the outcomes were shelved at the 11thhour yesterday as PDC members were still consulting affected parties. The 25 were accused of five counts of misconduct, including putting their party into disrepute and defying party instructions.

ANC provincial spokesman Gift Ngqodi said: “The disciplinary cases have been finalised. But we had to [push forward] the press conference [scheduled for yesterday] to today because the chairman of the PDC and others are still out on the road.

He refused to elaborate on verdicts, saying “only PDC members can communicate such decisions”.

However, the Dispatch understands that Skelenge is among those who received the harshest sanction: a five-year suspension of party membership pending his resignation as Mnquma mayor. He has been receiving mayoral benefits since his appointment two months ago.

“The council has been operating fully under mayor Skelenge. We have adopted the IDP and appointed senior managers in council under his guidance. So it is business as usual in Mnquma,” said a councillor who is close to the developments.

The group are also accused of chasing away the party’s provincial leaders, who were sent to oversee Matiwane’s appointment as mayor.

The suspended four have since been barred from all party activities, including “speaking on behalf of, attending meetings or representing the ANC in any capacity”.

The charge sheet states that the group “frustrated and undermined” the ANC and a decision made by the provincial executive council (PEC).

“Be advised further that the officials of the ANC provincial working committee of the Eastern Cape, at its meeting held on March 12, were appraised of your misconduct and that they considered your misconduct and decided it is a transgression that warranted disciplinary proceedings,” PDC leader of evidence Mathobela Sishuba wrote in the charge sheet.

Skelenge was reluctant to comment yesterday, saying: “I am still waiting for the outcomes of the PDC.”

● The announcement comes as pressure mounts on Premier Phumulo Masualle to reshuffle his cabinet. The decision to ask Masualle to speed up the process was made in a meeting of the ANC alliance secretariat in Port Elizabeth last Sunday, a day before PEC members met with President Cyril Ramaphosa to inform him about the delays.

Signatories to a statement issued yesterday on behalf of the secretariat included the ANC’s Lulama Ngcukayitobi, Cosatu provincial secretary Xolani Malamlela, Sanco EC secretary Tony Dube and SACP provincial secretary Xolile Nqatha.

They said they were taken aback at “sentiments expressed by the premier in [the media] stating that he had no intentions of carrying out the ANC decision on the matter”.

This was after Masualle told the Dispatch that he would not reshuffle his cabinet anytime soon.

Masualle could not be reached for comment yesterday.