WHATSAPP SPAT

ANC boss mum on row with new MEC

Eastern Cape ANC secretary Lulama Ngcukayithobi has refused to answer questions about a WhatsApp conversation in which he accuses newly appointed public works MEC Ntombovuyo Nkopane of nepotism.

A screengrab of the conversation has been doing the rounds on social media and in it Ngcukayithobi, in isiXhosa, explicitly tells Nkopane that she is committing nepotism by hiring Nomvula Qola as her chief of staff.

The position was previously held by Sibongile Sotshongaye but his contract ended in September after former MEC Babalo Madikizela resigned from his job.

As a political appointee, Sotshongaye’s contract is tied to the term of office of his political principal.

But in the WhatsApp exchange Ngcukayithobi suggests that Nkopane should have kept Sotshongaye as her chief of staff.

Nkopane, however, complains about Sotshongaye’s performance.

“The premier wrote to us MECs, raising concerns of non-submission, non-attendance of strategic [intergovernmental relations] platforms, non-submission to the legislature as expected and noncompliance.

“My private office was one [of] the culprits and there was no hope of rectifying the situation though I had raised it every time in the past 30 days that he was serving notice,” wrote Nkopane. However, Ngcukayithobi replied, in isiXhosa, accusing Nkopane of nepotism by hiring her friend.

Qola is said to have worked with Nkopane while she was still mayor of the Matatiele municipality.

Said Ngcukaitobi: “You were wrong to fire Sotshonyane. You are wrong for hiring your friends. Hiring your children is called nepotism and it’s wrong. You should fix these things while I am still warning you.”

But Nkopane seems to deny that she hired her friend and children, asking Ngcukayithobi, also in isiXhosa: “Which children of mine? Which friends?”

Ngcukayithobi, however, further warned Nkopane that she was defying him.

“Be notified that you are acting against both my instructions and that of the premier and you must desist and do as instructed,” he wrote. When contacted by the Daily Dispatch, both Ngcukayithobi and Nkopane, through her spokesperson, Zine George, declined to comment on the matter.

“Unfortunately I don’t answer about private conversations: l only deal with matters of principles,” said Ngcukayithobi.

George said: “All support staff of a member of the executive council are hired using the ministerial handbook which states that one’s term of office ends once the MEC leaves office. So when former DPWI’s (department of public works and industry) MEC Madikizela resigned at the end of July, contracts of all his support staff were also terminated. The notice period ends at the end of September. The new incumbent has a responsibility of filling the vacant positions whose roles and responsibilities are stated in the ministerial handbook.”

She said she would not comment on the screen grab.