Ziwaphi Relentless quest for the truth
A high ranking leader and a member of the ruling ANC’s provincial executive committee in Mpumalanga province, Peter Nyoni, has been expelled from the party, following a disciplinary hearing on Monday.
This decision has not been officially communicated to Nyoni, however, in a tape recording circulating in the social media, a voice believed to be that of a member of the ANC’s provincial disciplinary committee (PDC), Thomas Bongo, can be heard saying Nyoni has been expelled from the ANC.
“Nyoni has been expelled. I mean (Peter) Nyoni has been expelled from the ANC, a letter to that effect has been sent,” the voice is heard saying in what is believed to be a secretly recorded conversation.
Nyoni was suspended from the ANC earlier this year and charged with organising a march to the ANC provincial office to demand the nullification of a resolution taken at a provincial general council of the party to elect Mpumalanga premier, David Mabuza, as the ANC’s provincial chairperson unopposed for a third successive term.
Mabuza’s ambitions have since earned him the nickname, as South Africa’s own Nkurunziza, after Burundi president, Pierre Nkurunziza, who changed the constitution of his country to earn himself a third term as the president of war-torn Burundi.
On Monday, when Nyoni appeared before the PDC with his representative, Ronald Lamola, they presented a “point in limine” to the effect that the DC members were not open to persuasion and therefore they should recuse themselves.
This was after Lamola presented minutes of the PEC meeting which show that members of the PDC were part of the decision to suspend Nyoni and were thus already conflicted.
PDC chairperson, Violet Siwela, however dismissed Lamola’s submission and wanted to proceed with the hearing, but Lamola and Nyoni decided that they’d not participate in the hearing.
Both Lamola and Nyoni were surprised that the audio on the expulsion had gone viral on the social media even before the affected parties had been informed.
“Upon receipt of the audio, procedurally I wrote to the provincial secretary, voicing my dissatisfaction to hear about my expulsion through the public domain (sic), we were following internal processes, and I was expecting to get a communiqué through internal processes. This is shocking, how the organisation has deteriorated,” said Nyoni.
Nyoni said that he also submitted the copy of the recording to the organisation’s provincial secretary Lucky Ndinisa.
Lamola said that the expulsion confirms the concerns that they had raised during the hearing on Monday.
“Comrade Peter Nyoni felt that he would not get a fair hearing and a fair process. This confirms that our decision was correct not to be part of a pre-determined hearing. We will appeal the decision of the PDC,” said Lamola during an interview with Ziwaphi.
Meanwhile, Bongo said that he received from a journalist, but he does not know about it.
“That is the matter of the (PDC), but the audio I’m not part of it. I don’t know about the audio. Matters of the PDC are subjudice,” said Bongo.
He declined to say if it were his voice in the audio, but said that he was still investigating with his legal advisers.
“I’m still investigating with a legal team to establish how they attach me to that audio,” said Bongo.
Leader of the Save The ANC in Mpumalanga Campaign, Sipho Monareng, told Ziwaphi that they were not surprised about the latest developments, and that it was public knowledge that a member of the Ehlanzeni regional executive committee, who brought the allegations against Nyoni, has also been spreading the word that Nyoni has been expelled from the ANC.
“It tells you of the (poor) quality and the kind of leadership that is currently running the ANC in the province, which we have been saying for sometime that they have no credentials and no understanding of the organisation,” he said.
The provincial spokesperson of the ANC, Simon Skhosana, however said that there was no decision taken by the PDC.
“There was no decision of the PDC, the matter (is) still on,” he said in a text message.
