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ANC plot moves to the youth league

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Look who’s talking: Andile Lungisa (right) chats with DA leader councillor Nqaba Bhanga during a council meeting. Picture: Luvuyo Mehlwana
Look who’s talking: Andile Lungisa (right) chats with DA leader councillor Nqaba Bhanga during a council meeting. Picture: Luvuyo Mehlwana

More skeletons are tumbling out of an alleged anti-Cyril Ramaphosa and David Mabuza meeting held in Durban three weeks ago.

Now prominent ANC Eastern Cape member Andile Lungisa has been accused of changing youth league leadership candidates, claiming to be acting on instructions from the Durban meeting.

In the latest twist, a youth league caucus was held on Thursday last week at the Sun International Boardwalk Hotel in Port Elizabeth. Lungisa was at the meeting.

City Press has learnt that, in the meeting, Lungisa asked ambitious youth leader Chimurenga Mdabula to step down and decline his nomination as secretary-general of the ANC Youth League in the coming elections.

Businessperson Mdabula has been campaigning for the position of secretary-general of the youth league under KwaZulu-Natal’s Thanduxolo Sabelo’s camp.

Mdabula was allegedly told that he was not trusted enough to deliver Jacob Zuma as number one on the ANC list at the conference in November.

Lungisa allegedly told the meeting in Port Elizabeth that it was resolved to replace Mdabula with Xolani Mgxotheni, a former Nelson Mandela Bay councillor

This was apparently a reference to a move to ensure that Zuma loyalists dominate the conference list, which will decide who goes to Parliament after next year’s elections.

An insider said they were briefed that “Zuma did not finish his term and, according to our constitution, a person may not hold more than two terms and the term between the election and his removal may be argued and not regarded as a term”. The insider said it sounded as if there was a plan to return Zuma to the presidency by arguing that he did not finish his second term.

Lungisa allegedly told the meeting in Port Elizabeth that it was resolved to replace Mdabula with Xolani Mgxotheni, a former Nelson Mandela Bay councillor.

“We were shocked at Andile’s insinuations as he has been supporting Mdabula throughout the campaign. It is known that the ANC Youth League NEC [national executive committee] caucus has resolved that the next SG [secretary-general] has to come from the Eastern Cape, but it was a very disheartening suggestion especially coming from Andile, whom we trusted and respect as a former youth leader,” said a source.

Mgxotheni confirmed he had heard the rumours of him being a potential secretary-general.

“But I have yet to sit on any caucus to discuss this matter. No one has approached me. I am always with Andile Lungisa every day and he has never mentioned anything to me about a Durban meeting,” said the former Nelson Mandela regional chairperson of the youth league.

Mdabula did not mince his words when he spoke about being the “first casualty” of the Maharani (a hotel on the Durban beachfront) meeting.

“I cannot deny or acknowledge a meeting of this nature took place. All I can say [is that] we are clear we do not want to be associated with ill-discipline. It is well and good that I am overlooked because I respect the outcomes of Nasrec and the principles of the ANC of one centre of power that the president of the ANC becomes the president of the country.”

Lungisa asked ambitious youth leader Chimurenga Mdabula to step down and decline his nomination as secretary-general of the ANC Youth League in the coming elections

Mdabula’s chief lobbyist Sandiso Potwana said: “Chimurenga [Mdabula] was nominated by most branches in the region and most regions in the province.”

“As a lobby team we are engaging everyone. We had received positive responses from Reggie Nkabinde’s camp and Thanduxolo Sabelo’s camp until after the hotel meeting incident.

“What is worrying is the decency from Comrade Sabelo not to take our calls. All we see now the posters online have changed from Chimurenga ... but we are not worried, we will continue the campaign for a sound ethical leadership which we see in Mdabula.’’

A livid Lungisa said: “Chimurenga is drinking alcohol. I never convened a meeting. They called me and told me he was standing for secretary-general of the youth league.

“All I said was that Chimurenga has never led before at branch level or subregion and now he expects to be secretary-general. We are building an organisation here and need huge responsibility and experience.

“Chimurenga must tell me which branches nominated him,” said Lungisa. He denied ever mentioning anything about the Maharani meeting and referred to these allegations as “frivolous” and “utter nonsense”.

Sabelo insisted that he was not at the meeting in Durban.

On the issue of Mdabula being replaced, he said it was “branches that nominate”, not him.

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