The African National Congress (ANC) has expelled South African Communist Party (SACP) provincial secretary Benson Ngqentsu from the Western Cape Provincial Legislature as a consequence of the two parties parting ways in the upcoming polls.
Ngqentsu had been representing the ANC in the legislature since 2024 as part of the tripartite alliance.
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However, he’s unperturbed by his axing, saying he wears the decision as a badge of honour.
Following the submission of candidate lists to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) for the November local government elections, the ANC in the Western Cape announced that it would be removing three councillors in the Mossel Bay, George and Knysna municipalities because they have switched allegiances.
The ANC had previously warned that SACP members would have to choose which party they would campaign for following the SACP’s announcement that it would be going it alone to contest this year’s local government elections.
Addressing supporters this weekend, Ngqentsu said the decision to remove him as a member of the provincial legislature (MPL) was conveyed to him only in a call, and not in writing.
“The removal of the SACP provincial secretary by the ANC leadership is described by me as a badge of honour. It’s a badge of honour because I’m not being removed because I stole public money. I’m not being removed because I’m entangled in the tentacles of the criminal network.”
Ngqentsu said he accepts his removal as MPL as a response to his conviction for the struggle for socialism.
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Lindsay Dentlinger
www.ewn.co.za