Lungisa takes Mbalula to court over removal from ANC list - TimesLIVE
Andile Lungisa, an ANC NEC member, has accused secretary-general Fikile Mbalula of personally ordering his removal from the party’s Nelson Mandela Bay candidate list despite the list having been endorsed by the NEC.
Lungisa has taken Mbalula to the high court in Johannesburg, asking that it intervene in what he describes as an unlawful removal that has denied him the opportunity to contest the November 4 local government elections.
The Sunday Times reported this week that ANC veteran Frank Chikane, sports, arts and culture deputy minister Nocawe Mafu and Lungisa were among ANC leaders who had not been submitted as candidates to the IEC before its deadline.
In court papers filed on Thursday, Lungisa says he was nominated by ANC branches in Nelson Mandela Bay, placed at the top of the list and confirmed as the highest-placed candidate at the provincial list conference.
He was subsequently shortlisted and publicly announced by ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa as a mayoral candidate for the Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan municipality.
Lungisa says his candidacy was then confirmed by the ANC’s national executive committee.
But he claims his name was removed before the list was submitted to the IEC.
The explosive allegation at the centre of his court application is that Mbalula personally instructed ANC officials to delete his name.
“Mr Mbalula convened the meeting envisaged in clause 9.6.5 at a hotel in Johannesburg and instructed the officials to remove my name,” Lungisa says.
He alleges Mbalula’s justification was that he would cause undisclosed “problems” for the secretary-general if allowed to contest.
Lungisa says his name was still on the list when the NEC met on or about August 27 to finalise the candidates.
“But this did not happen,” he says. “Instead, Mr Mbalula … instructed the officials to remove my name.”
Lungisa says he has spoken to several ANC members who were allegedly present when the instruction was given and witnessed it.
He says they are prepared to confirm his version under oath should Mbalula deny the allegation.
In his court papers, Lungisa set out the ANC’s candidate-selection rules to argue that Mbalula had no authority to make the change.
He contends that the rules provide that the final list be approved by the extended NEC and formally ratified by the NEC.
They further state that changes at that stage may only be made on “very serious grounds” and with the agreement of 80% of the extended NEC.
Once the process reaches the submission stage, the rules state that the secretary-general must submit and upload the ANC’s candidate names to the IEC portal, with senior ANC officials confirming the validity of the final lists.
The rules also state that no changes may be made at that stage unless a candidate dies, is disqualified or withdraws.
Lungisa says his nomination had gone through the required stages, including an interview on August 6, after which he was called to proceed to the next stages.
He was also invited to an ANC event in Johannesburg on August 18 where mayoral candidates were due to be announced. The candidates were not announced at that meeting, but Lungisa was announced as a shortlisted candidate.
He argues that he would not have been invited or shortlisted had he failed to qualify.
