ANC region wants leader’s head after ‘unholy talk’

The second-biggest ANC region in Limpopo is calling for an early regional elective conference before the November municipal elections to chunk out the current regional executive committee (REC), perceived to comprise VBS tainted top five members.

ANC top brass in the Vhembe region Anderson Mudunungu last week presented his case to ANC electoral committee chair and former president Kgalema Motlanthe on the region’s readiness to hold an elective conference.

The clandestine virtual meeting, was allegedly attended by members of the party’s Veterans’ League and ANC bigwigs from regions and subregions in and around Limpopo.

In a widely circulated audio clip in possession of The Citizen, Mudunungu is heard explaining to Motlanthe how important it was for the region to hold the elective conference before the municipal elections.

The leader, who is also a former Ba-Phalaborwa municipal manager, is also heard explaining how factional battles have eroded relations in regional politics by the VBS bank saga.

“Branches are having a huge outcry to say that this REC structure has overstayed its constitutional mandate. Some leaders within the REC are people who are still having the VBS stigma, which is still very strong in the region and could work against the ANC. So it is important for the region to hold its elective conference before the elections in an effort to avoid disputes and possible legal recourse from disgruntled party members,” Mudunungu told the meeting.

During an NEC meeting on Friday, Motlanthe allegedly spoke about the degeneration of the party into an organisation where money and alcohol were used by others to buy votes from either branch or community member during the nomination process.

The former president also allegedly told the NEC how disturbed he was by the Limpopo virtual meeting, which he said had initially been presented as a meeting with the veterans’ league, only for him to realise it was being used to lobby for a certain faction to occupy mayoral positions in the Capricorn district, Polokwane and Fetakgomo Tubatse local municipalities.

The Vhembe region in Limpopo is not new to controversy. The region is plagued by factional battles between the so-called the radical economic transformation (RET) grouping and supporters aligned to President Cyril Ramaposa (CR-17).

The RET is believed to comprise ANC leaders who supported Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma ahead of the party’s conference in 2017 at Nasrec.

But this was vehemently poohpooped by ANC provincial secretary Soviet Lekganyane, who said there was no such a thing called the RET forces within the ANC. Speaking on the SABC’s Thobela FM morning show yesterday, Lekganyane said CR-17 functioned until the time Ramaphosa was elected president at Nasrec.

Yesterday, the ANC Youth League in Vhembe called for the suspension and the ultimate axing of Mudunungu, accusing him of being divisive and factional.

“We have noted with concern and disgust a voice note clip doing rounds on social media where Mudunungu can be heard making divisive and unholy talk about how party processes must be flaunted and disregarded to suit his selfish and factional interests,” said regional convenor Tumelo Siliga.

“I was just painting a picture of what is likely to happen after the elections,” Mudunungu retorted.