Mandla Ndlovu elected ANC Mpumalanga chair

ANC Mpumalanga convener Mandla Ndlovu has been elected the new provincial chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC) in the province.

Ndlovu beat former provincial secretary, Lucky Ndinisa, for the position by 440 votes. Ndinisa got 278 votes.

Voting got underway at the party’s provincial elective conference in the early hours of Saturday morning in Emalahleni.

Ndlovu is reportedly aligned with ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa, while Ndinisa is said to be close to ANC deputy president and former long-time Mpumalanga chair, David Mabuza.

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The other elected officials of the ANC in the province are:

• Deputy chairperson: Speedy Mashilo.
• Provincial secretary: Muzi Chirwa.
• Deputy provincial secretary: Lindiwe Ntshalintshali.
• Provincial treasurer: Mandla Msibi.

Mandla Msibi

Murder-accused former Mpumalanga agriculture MEC, Mandla Msibi, was elected the provincial treasurer.

Msibi, who was not present at the provincial conference, stepped aside last year after he was charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

This is in connection with a shooting incident where two ANC members, Dingaan Ngwenya and Sindela Lubisi, were shot and killed and another party member was wounded in Mbombela on 22 August 2021.

The shooting incident is understood to be related to party infighting over the ANC’s candidate list processes ahead of last year’s local government elections.

Msibi is currently out on R20,000 bail and denies the charges against him.

ALSO READ: Murder-accused ex-Mpumalanga MEC Mandla Msibi granted bail

Urgent court interdict

On Friday, the Johannesburg High Court dismissed an urgent application to halt the conference from going ahead.

Two members of the ANC in Mpumalanga had filed papers in the high court to urgently interdict the conference, alleging irregularities.

However, the high court dismissed Fransisco Vilanculo and Edward Mahlangu’s last-minute application with costs.

The Mpumalanga conference is two years overdue.

It was last held in December 2015, and no elections were organised when the provincial executive committee’s term expired in 2019.

The provincial ANC has been marred by public spats and factional battles that turned violent. The conference has been postponed several times before because of the internal divisions and allegations of vote rigging at branches.

Additional reporting by Getrude Makhafola

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