ANCYL calls for the removal of ANC councillors
● Several other councillors in line of fire
The ANC Youth League in Nelson Mandela Bay is calling for the removal of several ANC councillors, including infrastructure and engineering political head Andile Lungisa, over events at a controversial council meeting on Monday.
The league’s hit list also includes the ANC’s acting chief whip, Litho Suka who, it says, failed to discipline the caucus, council speaker Buyelwa Mafaya and corporate services portfolio head Makhi Feni.
In a letter to ANC provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi, the league’s regional task team convener, Bongani Mabusela, urges the party’s provincial bosses to intervene against what it termed rogue councillors.
Mabusela said some councillors defied a direct instruction by the ANC regional task team at Monday’s council meeting when they agreed that housing director Mvuleni Mapu be appointed as acting city manager.
Last month , Ngcukayitobi had directed the party’s caucus not to ratify Mapu’s appointment by acting mayor Thsonono Buyeye to replace Noxolo Nqwazi as acting city manager, saying the decision was illegal.
However, on Monday, Mafaya said 31 councillors had voted in favour of a resolution that Mapu be appointed, while 22 voted against, meaning that some caucus members defied Ngcukayitobi’s directive.
“It has become blatantly clear in [Monday’s] council meeting that there are certain councillors who are hell-bent on defying the organisation,” Mabusela said in his letter.
“It has also become evident that there is a failure by the chief whip, comrade Litho Suka to ‘whip’ ANC councillors [into] line.
“The defiance of the instruction of the provincial executive committee for ANC councillors not to approve Mapu’s appointment constitutes a grave offence and signals rogue elements by deployees.
“Furthermore, there was a clear instruction from the organisation to its deployees to vote for and pass the budget with comments from the ANC.
“This, too, was defied by councillor Makhi Feni and as such the budget has been adopted by council without the comments by the organisation having been made.
“As such, we view Mr Feni as an ANC deployee who has clearly defined himself outside and beyond the organisation which deployed him,” Mabusela said.
Evidence of power struggles in the ANC caucus in the metro are emerging as the party’s members gear up for the upcoming regional conference.
Mabusela said Mafaya had instructed security guards to remove the ANC’s regional coordinator Luyolo Nqakula during the meeting — a claim she denied.
Mabusela claimed Lungisa followed and blocked Nqakula’s car when he attempted to talk to DA provincial leader Nqaba Bhanga after councillors from the opposition party walked out.
“We view such behaviour as both threatening and utterly atrocious, especially coming from a deployee of the organisation,” he said.
Lungisa dismissed the youth league’s call, branding its members “child soldiers”.
“I’m part of the ANC whippery and we are going to submit a report [on the meeting] to the organisation,” he said.
“I’ve been on missions to Sudan with [former president] Thabo Mbeki where they had to deal with child soldiers and saw their plight.
“I sympathise with the youth league but the ANC’s position never begins with positions. It will end when we end corruption.”
Mabusela said ANC councillors who carried out their duties in line with the party’s agenda faced death threats from those who defied the organisation.
The league urged the party’s provincial executive to investigate the allegations.
Yesterday, Feni denied the allegations against him and said the ANC had a clear mandate to pass the budget, which it did.
ANC regional spokesperson Siviwe Ngaba said: “The ANC gave clear instructions not to support the appointment of Mr Mapu and when it takes its decision no-one can go against it.
“What happened on Monday was an explicit disregard of those instructions and we are going to make an example of those councillors through the ANC’s internal organisational processes.”