Durban — A showdown is looming between ActionSA KwaZulu-Natal and the national leadership after the dismissal of the Ugu regional leader, Sipho Shinga.
Shinga, a party leader on the South Coast, was fired last week days before the KwaDukuza council meeting could take place after a voice note where he was found to be discussing with someone – purportedly an ANC leader – how to ensure that the motion fails.
ActionSA national chairperson, Michael Beaumont, said Shinga was fired immediately after he was identified as the person speaking on the voice clip.
Beaumont said on Sunday that the party felt it needed to act swiftly and fired Shinga. The transcript showed the discussion was about whether party councillors would abstain from voting to protect the ANC from being ousted.
The plan was not going to succeed because the regional leadership in KwaDukuza was firmly in control of the councillors, and no councillor was going to go against the party’s decision to vote the ANC out of power in that municipality, Beaumont said.
Hitting back, Shinga denied plotting against the motion and said there was an orchestrated plan by the national leadership to silence KZN members, who were questioning the national leadership’s management style.
He vowed to air the party’s dirty linen in public, saying he and other party members in the province would call a media briefing where they would spill the beans about the shenanigans in the party.
Shinga said being from the South Coast he had no knowledge of the political dynamics of KwaDukuza in the northern part of KZN. He did not know any ANC leaders, Shinga said, and ActionSA councillors were not his friends; so he did not know how he was going to be an influence to sabotage the party’s motion.
Shinga said he was fired without being provided with the clip where he was purportedly recorded speaking to the ANC member, adding that his lawyers had advised him to challenge the dismissal.
Senior leaders in the province, who spoke on condition of anonymity, on Sunday said that the revolt against Herman Mashaba and his group in the national office was inevitable.
The leaders accused the national leadership of imposing leaders on them without election or consultation, saying even the KwaDukuza motion of no confidence was planned without them in the province.
National spokesperson Lerato Ngobeni dismissed the notion as false.
Daily News