She says she now pins her hope on the justice system after she laid assault charges against her comrades in Mbombela.
Mpumalanga acting secretary Lindiwe Ntshalintshali is highly disappointed that an ANC disciplinary finding freed controversial eHlanzeni leader Ngrai Ngwenya of the charge of assaulting her, saying something was absolutely wrong with the whole DC setting on 26 and 27 September 2019 in Gauteng.
She said amongst those who were presiding over the case was Ngwenya’s known ally Bongani Bongo who mysteriously formed part of the ANC’s national disciplinary committee (NDC) after he asked to be excused.
The DC is comprised of Mildred Oliphant as chairwoman and 6 additional members who presided over the matter of the ANC vs Ngrai Ngwenya and Phindile Nkuna.
The committee’s additional members are Nathi Mthethwa, Nocawe Mafu, Beauty Dlulane, Pinky Moloi, Faith Muthambi as well as Bongo.
Both Mafu and Moloi didn’t attend most of the time arguments were being made during the hearing as they had to attend to government work.
Muthambi is the only member who didn’t put her signature at the end of the DC findings document – apparently because she was not present while the disciplinary committee was hearing the case laid against Lomdzala and Nkuna.
Ntshalintshali told City Press that she did address Mthethwa and raised concerns about Bongo and Ngwenya being friends, asking that Bongo – who also hails from the Mpumalanga region of Nkangala as Ntshalintshali – should excuse himself from the case.
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“I told comrade Nathi that Bongo is Ngrayi’s friend. Bongo once represented Ngrayi in a provincial disciplinary matter,” she told the national weekly.
Ntshalintshali said Bongo had initially asked to be excused from the NDC – because he was still recovering from the illness that ambushed him in the second week of August 2019 – but was suddenly available.
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Ntshalintshali said she was “disappointed” because of how the whole thing was set.
She said the “process was highly managed”.
“The ANC cannot claim to fight gender-based violence while they cannot protect us who are inside the organisation,” she said.
The NDC found Ngwenya not guilty of her assault as well as disrupting the ANC Bohlabela-eHlanzeni special RGC on the Wednesday evening of 17 July 2019.
Ntshalintshali, opposed to deputy president DD Mabuza’s handpicked successor Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane becoming the new provincial ANC chair, is an instrumental figure for the #NdlovuChirwa campaign and is on a province-wide campaign to make her mark known in December.
Her backers want acting chairman Mandla Ndlovu, who hails from and has massive support in the now disbanded Bohlabela region, to contest Tsipane in the party’s 13th Mpumalanga congress for the position of chairperson while Gert Sibande leader Muzi Chirwa takes on PEC member Pat Ngomane for the position of secretary.
In that way, Ntshalintshali will be the deputy secretary while Nkangala leader Speedy Mashilo becomes deputy chair and Piennar strongman Mandla Msibi contests as treasurer on the NdlovuChirwa slate.
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But the RMT19 campaign, which stands for ‘Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane 2019’, is also pumping up some serious leaders to contest positions, like Vusi Shongwe who Tsipane wants as treasurer in her slate and spokeswoman Sasekani Manzini who they want to contest Ntshalintshali for the post of deputy secretary.
The RMT forces also want Ngomane as the secretary as well as Sgudla as deputy chair but Sgudla says he won’t be available – instead he said he will support Mashilo for the position of deputy chair.
Sgudla said when audit outcomes are released and branches can begin BGMs he will support Tsipane as chair and Mashilo as deputy chair as well as Ngomane for the role of secretary, Manzini as deputy secretary and Shongwe as treasurer.
He said he will only avail himself to be just an additional member of the PEC because his “is not to contest but to support”.
The Gert Sibande ANCYL last week said they will support Ntshalintshali, Mashilo, Chirwa and Ndlovu as the “best cadres to take forward the organisation” when a congress is held in December 2019.
They said they will add a lot of young people into the PEC, which includes the ANCYL’s Ndumiso Mokako, Desmond Moela and Gabisile Shabalala, Sabelo Sikhakhane, Bongani Phakathi as well as Tim Mashele, are amongst those being punted to emerge as a new crop of leader in a post-Mabuza era.
(edited by ZK)
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