Andile Lungisa apologises to Mantashe for ‘thoughtless remarks’

The newly-elected ANC Nelson Mandela regional chairperson, Andile Lungisa, has apologised to the party’s secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, for the “thoughtless remarks” he made about him.

But Mantashe does not want to hear it.

The spat between Lungisa and Mantashe started when Lungisa contested and won elections as the party’s regional chairperson at Nelson Mandela Bay at the weekend.

This despite Mantashe’s assertion that this was in breach of the ANC constitution.

Lungisa is also a member of the ANC Eastern Cape provincial executive committee (PEC).

Mantashe warned him that it was against the ANC constitution to contest elections on a lower structure while serving on a higher structure.

Mantashe cited the cases of Bheki Cele and Nomvula Mokonyane, who were previously stopped from contesting polls for the same reason.

In a letter to Lungisa, Mantashe accused him of knowingly breaking the rules as the policy had been in application since its adoption at the party’s Mangaung national conference.

But Lungisa declined to withdraw and argued that the constitution did not prohibit him being elected.

He said the constitution prohibited a member from serving in two structures at the same time.

He offered to resign from the PEC if he was elected into the regional executive committee.

But Mantashe has laid a grievance against Lungisa with the party’s national disciplinary committee (NDC) after he accused him of factionalism in a statement he made to The Herald newspaper.

Lungisa later wrote another letter to Mantashe apologising and acknowledging that Mantashe always treated him and other young activists with respect.

“I made my thoughtless remarks in the middle of a heated political campaign leading to the conference,” Lungisa said.

Probably agitated by Lungisa’s decision to send the letter to the media instead of to him, Mantashe refused to accept the apology, saying the matter was already in the hands of the NDC and that Lungisa must also apologise to him in the media.

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