ANC National Executive Member (NEC) Andile Lungisa has accused ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula of lying under oath and using factionalism to manipulate internal party processes.
Lungisa launched the scathing attack on Thursday on the sidelines of the Gauteng High Court after his application to challenge his disqualification from contesting ANC positions was heard.
Speaking to journalists, Lungisa said the ANC that Oliver Tambo built over decades has become unrecognisable and painful to belong to.
“The ANC has become painful, which Tambo has built for years,” Lungisa said.
At the heart of Lungisa’s legal challenge is the ANC’s vetting process and how it handled nominations for internal positions.
Lungisa took aim at the affidavit filed by the ANC in court, accusing the party’s top leadership of denying knowledge of its own service provider appointed to handle vetting.
“Through their affidavit, they don’t even know who their service provider that has been appointed by the ANC,” he said.
“The service provider appointed by the ANC was Postnet. But they lied in court… they said it wasn’t… every candidate of the ANC was directed to go to Postnet.”
Lungisa said all candidates, including himself, were instructed to use Postnet to submit documents and undergo vetting, with some members forced to travel long distances.
“Some were in the villages and had to be bussed to towns to get to Postnet across the country. I went to Postnet myself like everyone else,” he said.
He revealed that he went for a vetting interview on August 6 and submitted a copy of his ID like all other candidates, questioning why he was later disqualified.
“On the 6th of August, I went for an interview for vetting. I had sent a copy of my ID like everybody else,” Lungisa said.
“I am not sure where we are heading to if we are going to run the organisation through lies.”
Lungisa warned that the ANC was institutionalising dishonesty in courts of law through false affidavits.
“It is dangerous if we are going to institutionalize lies that are contained in the affidavit in the court of law,” he said.
The former Nelson Mandela Bay councilor said he is opposed to leaders who use narrow factional interests to purge opponents.
“I am opposed to ANC leadership who manipulate their narrow factional lines. There is no mandate in the ANC that says anyone must be removed. I am standing here for my constitutional right,” he said.
Lungisa’s court action comes amid heightened tensions ahead of key ANC provincial and national gatherings, where Mbalula has been accused by several members of driving a slate aligned to President Cyril Ramaphosa sidelining dissenting voices.
The ANC, in its court papers, has denied any irregularity in the vetting process and maintains that Lungisa and others were disqualified based on criteria set by the party’s internal electoral committee.
The party is yet to publicly respond to Lungisa’s accusation that its affidavit contained falsehoods about Postnet.
The Gauteng High Court has reserved judgment in the matter until 12 October.