By Celani Sikhakhane
Andile Lungisa, a former deputy president of the ANC Youth League, says he won’t “turn against” his grandfather by joining uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK).
Lungisa was responding to claims that he was about to join the newly formed party, supported by former president Jacob Zuma.
“I am an ANC man. My grandfather, Isikhoba Nombewu, who has a school named after him in Cofimvaba, [was] a founding member of the ANC. So I won’t turn against him.”
Lungisa was a controversial leader in Eastern Cape ANC structures.
At the ANC Nelson Mandela Bay regional elective conference in 2017, Zuma backed Lungisa to contest the chairmanship position.
This angered then ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe, who warned Lungisa against running for any position in the region.
Lungisa was subsequently forced to resign as ANC regional chair by then Eastern Cape secretary Oscar Mabuyane.
Since then, Lungisa has been a vocal figure in the ANC and has been viewed as a strong Zuma supporter, which made some in the ANC believe he might move to MK.
Lungisa was also involved in the R Kelly concert saga where it was alleged he and three others had defrauded the Department of Arts and Culture of R2.5-million. The case was withdrawn in October 2016.
He is currently an MMC in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, responsible for the municipal infrastructure and engineering department.
Pictured above: Former ANCYL deputy president Andile Lungisa rejects Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto Wesizwe party.
Image source: X
