Former Nelson Mandela Bay councillor Andile Lungisa, who was convicted of assaulting a DA councillor, has made the top 10 of ANC leaders to make up its national executive committee (NEC).
Lungisa has been fighting an ongoing suspension that was enforced by the Eastern Cape provincial executive committee (PEC) on Monday.
The PEC’s resolution comes after the ANC’s national disciplinary committee of appeal (NDCA) delivered a judgment against Lungisa and 30 other Eastern Cape party members in September.
His membership had been suspended for 18 months by the ANC’s provincial disciplinary committee on June 14 after he was jailed for assaulting DA councillor Rano Kayser with a glass jug at a council meeting in 2018.
This was later appealed. But according to a September 7 2022 NDCA judgment, Lungisa and 30 party members’ memberships were suspended.
Two recent former premiers, KZN’s Sihle Zikalala and Gauteng’s David Makhura, make up part of the top 10 additional ANC national executive committee positions.
Zikalala got the most nominations (1,447) while Makhura was the eighth favourite among the branches.
Historically, the higher the place on the final NEC list, the greater the possibility of the individual becoming a cabinet minister.
Four of the individuals who had raised their names for the presidency have also made the list of 200 names nominated as additionals — ranging from being as high as 22 (Lindiwe Sisulu) and as low as 115 for current deputy president David Mabuza.
Cooperative governance and traditional affairs minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma came in 53rd position while former health minister Zweli Mkhize took the 89th spot.
Former cabinet minister Ayanda Dlodlo also made it to the list of 200 ANC members who will have the final call on all party-related matters until its next elective conference. Dlodlo serves as the World Bank group executive director for Angola, Nigeria and SA.
The ANC NEC additional list was announced by the ANC electoral committee led by Kgalema Motlanthe during a media briefing at Luthuli House.
“This list is a working progress because vetting process is ongoing and therefore it may change because the names we’ve read out are people who accepted and confirmed they accepted their nominations.
“If any one of the names would not meet the criteria as spelt out in the rules and constitution of the ANC, then they would be disqualified and that would be communicated to affected comrades.
“In working through the data we’ve not quite got to a point of analysing the trends other than the ANC experiencing difficulties to gender parity questions,” Motlanthe said.
ANC electoral committee secretary chief Livhuwani Matsila said those who had been charged or found guilty of a serious crime with more than a six-month jail term would not be able to stand.
“Those found guilty for [party offences] or members suspended will face the same issue.”
Lungisa, who was nominated by the Western Cape as its preferred treasurer-general ahead of the national conference later this month, said he had appealed not making the list of treasurer-general candidates.
“For now, I'm happy for the structures of the ANC who have nominated me for TG [treasurer-general] and broader NEC of the ANC. I'm highly indebted to the structure, especially those of the [younger] generation. Remember, I've been suspended every week but there's no suspension because it was never served in the NEC,” Lungisa said.
Many of those nominated on this list will not make the final cut if the ANC adopts the proposed amendment to decrease the number of NEC members from 80 to 60. The proposed amendment also wants to see the 52 ANC regions directly electing a member to represent it on the NEC.
The tradition that NEC membership almost guarantees a cabinet position could also be a thing of the past if the party adopts an amendment that not more than 30% of NEC members serve in the cabinet.
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