ANC bigwig suspended for 3 years
CONTROVERSIAL Mpumalanga ANC heavyweight and former party provincial treasurer Mandla Msibi has been slapped with a three-year suspension by his party for misconduct.
This, after the party will arguably face the toughest elections on May 29 since governing the country from 1994.
Msibi, also MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs in the province, was suspended after the party found him guilty of violating its constitution.
He was suspended for three years. However, two years have been suspended, provided he is not found guilty of a similar offence in that period.
This means he is effectively in the political wilderness for one year.
He and two others had initially been suspended after the party’s 2024 January 8 celebrations held at the Mbombela Stadium this year.
The party accused Msibi of trying to sabotage the 112th birthday celebrations by lobbying his supporters to boycott the event.
Chief among the allegations, prior to the January 8 celebrations, was that he had made several demands on the ANC and President Cyril Ramaphosa to call an urgent Cabinet meeting to resolve the multi-billion rand Nkosi Smart City project.
Yesterday the party’s spokesperson, Sasekani Manzini, said: “The membership of comrade Mandla Msibi is suspended for three years, with two years suspended on condition that he is not found guilty of a similar offence during the period of suspension.
“Then, on comrade Mandla Mhlanga – on all the counts put before the provincial disciplinary committee – we unanimously agree that he was not found guilty.”