Suspended ANC leader Andile Lungisa will head to the ANC 55th conference hopeful. Picture - File
CAPE TOWN: Treasurer-General hopeful Andile Lungisa, who was recently suspended from the ANC over his assault conviction, has vowed to fight on and take his plight to the ANC’s 55th conference floor.
Lungisa’s hopes of ascending to the all-powerful position were dashed when ANC Eastern Cape bosses suspended him from the party for about a year.
Lungisa’s membership was suspended over his 2020 conviction for assaulting a DA councillor with a jug during a heated Nelson Mandela Bay council meeting in 2018.
The former councillor and Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) member has been nominated for the treasurer position by some branches in the Western Cape.
Lungisa will face presidential aide Bejani Chauke, ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe, and former Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina who have put their name in the hat for the position.
The three have made it onto the ballot, while Lungisa has not. His only hope now is to lobby the delegates at conference and hopefully secure 25% support from the floor. Only then will he qualify to have his name appear on the ballot.
This week, Lungisa told the Weekend Argus that the decision to suspend him again would "not go anywhere."
"The suspension is madness," Lungisa said.
"There is literally nothing until it goes before the National Executive Committee (NEC). The PEC must respect the NEC; the PEC must keep quiet until the NEC deals with it," Lungisa said.
He said he was also aware that records of his case which had gone before the National Disciplinary Committee of Appeals (NDCA), had disappeared.
"How can you deal with the matter when there are no records? How can you adjudicate?" Lungisa asked, adding that the PEC had appointed itself as player and referee.
Lungisa was suspended as a member of the ANC after the Provincial Disciplinary Committee ruled against him. He appealed the decisions, and the appeals committee ruled in his favour. But provincial party bosses challenged the outcome and moved to suspend his membership. He has since referred the matter to the ANC NEC.
Lungisa believes the move was intended to cripple his campaign to succeed Paul Mashatile as treasurer.
Attempts to reach ANC Eastern Cape secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi were unsuccessful. ANC Eastern Cape spokesperson Loyiso Magqashela said Lungisa’s suspension stood
"This has got nothing to do with conferences but the processes of the ANC, which take their time. Had Lungisa accepted the sanction, his suspension would have lapsed by now," Magqashela said.
Weekend Argus