Eastern Cape ANC secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi has given party secretary-general Fikile Mbalula five days to retract claims he was to blame for the candidate list submission that left several municipalities uncontested by the party in the province.
On Thursday, Ngcukayitobi’s legal representative, Mabuza Attorneys, wrote to Mbalula demanding a full and unconditional and mutually agreed retraction on the falsehoods he said were published against him in several newspapers, including the Sunday Times.
Mabuza Attorneys gave Mbalula a September 22 (12pm) deadline, failing which legal action would be taken against him.
In the letter, Mabuza Attorneys said their client had informed them that Mbalula had provided the publication with false and defamatory statements which impugned Ngcukayitobi’s integrity, standing and reputation.
“In particular, the statements which were published between September 13 and 14 2026 ... record a report authored and/or prepared by you, and which has been presented to other people as fact.
“The said report, inter alia, falsely claims that our client is the cause of the widely publicised and embarrassing failure by the ANC to submit all its candidate lists in the forthcoming local government elections, with specific reference to municipalities situated in the Eastern Cape province;
“That our client failed to ensure that the ANC lists of the Eastern Cape province for the candidates contesting all its local government elections were submitted timeously to your office.”
The ANC’s candidate list submissions have come under fire after the party failed to meet the Electoral Commission of SA’s deadline to submit its list of nominated candidates by 5pm on August 28.
Mabuza Attorneys wrote that Mbalula made false claims against Ngcukayitobi that he had submitted the list to his office 30 minutes before the deadline.
Another falsehood Mabuza Attorneys pointed out was the alleged claim that Ngcukayitobi had altered the list which was approved by the national executive committee (NEC).
“Your statement therefore implies that our client is in possible breach[es] of ANC policy, which is defamatory by its very nature in that such conduct would be prejudicial to countless people and/or communities.”
In one of the biggest revelations in Ngcukayitobi’s lawyer’s letter was the claim that Mbalula allegedly instructed that NEC member Andile Lungisa’s name be removed from the Nelson Mandela Bay candidate list.
On Friday, Lungisa filed an urgent application at the Gauteng high court seeking a declaratory order that he appeared first on the candidate list for the ANC in the metro.
Ngcukayitobi’s letter would be the first confirmation of claims made by Lungisa in his founding affidavit.
“Our client is only aware of instance where you personally instructed, in his presence, the alteration of the list, including the removal of Mr Andile Lungisa’s name from the proportional representation list of Nelson Mandela Bay.
“To your knowledge, our client is not responsible for the alteration of any lists,” Mabuza Attorneys wrote.
It said the false claims against Ngcukayitobi were motivated by malice and an alleged desire to shift blame from the secretary-general as administrative head of the ANC.
“You engaged in a series of conduct which culminated in the failure to submit the lists, over a protracted period of time.”
Mabuza Attorneys concluded the letter by asking Mbalula to refrain from making “uncouth public pronouncements” about the lawyer’s letter.
“That will be regarded as aggravation of the defamation and will be reflected in the anticipated court proceedings as such.”
Contacted for comment, Mbalula declined to comment, saying that his lawyers would be dealing with the matter.
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