ANC re-elects Mkolo to top BCM position
Group to contest conference outcome
THE man at the centre of the Mandela funeral scandal has been re-elected into the powerful regional secretary position by ANC delegates at the party’s Buffalo City Metro elective conference held at the weekend.
In a result expected by many leading up to the two-day conference, the Pumlani Mkolo/Xola Pakati-led collective emerged unopposed scooping the region’s top five leadership positions.
Pakati, BCM deputy mayor, was elected as regional chairman while Mkolo, his co-accused Luleka-Simon Ndzele and controversial councillor Sindiswa Gomba were all elected to the party’s regional executive committee.
Simon is deputy chair and Gomba an additional member.
The election of additional members caused tensions at the conference as seasoned male leaders such as Siyabonga Jabavu had to make way for their female colleagues.
But it was the controversial election of councillor Mlandeli Ngabayana, who was not even a delegate at the conference, which caused the biggest stir.
The victory will, however, not go unchallenged as some ANC members who were against the convening of the conference, have vowed to dispute its outcomes.
Spokesman for the group Xolani Somaca yesterday said: “We will petition the national office about this. We have a question as to what happened to Mkolo’s suspension? What were the terms of his suspension and whether what he was suspended for, has been resolved?”
Mkolo had been placed on “leave” a few months ago by ANC provincial leaders following allegations of membership rigging. His deputy, Mkhangeli Maleki, was tasked with acting as the region’s secretary.
Maleki has been elected deputy secretary and department of transport spokesman Ncedo Kumbaca regional treasurer.
The regional conference was convened despite disgruntled members calling for it to be postponed.
The group, led by Ayanda Matiti last week, marched to Calata House to hand over a list of grievances. They were accompanied by ANC members from the Alfred Nzo and O R Tambo regions.
Among their demands were that the FNB report on the rigging of membership forms be made public and all outstanding disputes be addressed.
They also threatened to march on Luthuli House if their demands were not met.
Delivering the keynote address on Friday at the Alexander Golf Club, ANC provincial chairman Phumulo Masualle warned of decreasing ANC membership in the region.
“The ANC does not exist for itself, it exists to serve the people. In the BCM area the community is probably more than a million, it can’t be that we only have less than 10 000 members.”
While Masualle was addressing delegates inside the venue, more than 30 ANC members attempted to disrupt proceedings. Police had to use stun grenades to disperse them.
The conference proceeded uninterrupted on Saturday with the presentation of reports and election of 19 additional members.