ANC special NEC meeting will hear disbandment issue of Nelson Mandela Bay region

26th October 2018 By: African News Agency

ANC special NEC meeting will hear disbandment issue of Nelson Mandela Bay region

The African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee (NEC) will hear the complaint by Nelson Mandela Bay region during its special meeting next week, party spokesperson Pule Mabe said on Thursday. 

Mabe said if the complaint was submitted it would be among the issues that the party's special NEC meeting will discuss.

The Nelson Mandela Bay regional executive wants the NEC's intervention after it was dissolved by the ANC Eastern Cape provincial leadership. The Bay's secretary of the disbanded structure, Themba Xathula said in a statement that the region would not accept the move until the intervention from the NEC.

On Tuesday, ANC Eastern Cape provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi said the provincial leadership took a decision to disband its Nelson Mandela Bay regional structure after its assessment of the region found it dysfunctional. 

Ngcukayitobi said the provincial working committee would set up a regional task team to manage the ANC affairs at the region. 

On Thursday, Xathula accused the provincial executive of undermining the authority of the Bay regional structure and and called on the ANC NEC to visit Nelson Mandela Bay region and make its own assessment of their own on the work that we have done since our election into office. 

"We have a responsibility as leaders of this region to defend the gains that have been made by the organisation from factional and frivolous reasons behind wanting to disband us," said Xathula.

On the matter of Andile Lungisa, whom they were mandated to remove from the mayoral committee, Xathula said: "The REC has no authority to make changes in the Mayoral Committee and therefore councillor Andile Lungisa remains an MMC for infrastructure until such a time that an agreement is made by the national leaders and the Mayor is instructed to make any such changes."

He said Lungisa was recommended for the infrastructure portfolio at national level during the metro coalition government negotiations by the leaders of the various political parties. 

Ngcukayitobi said he cannot comment on the views of the dissolved structure.