ActionSA North West leader Kwena Mangope was asked to resign by Herman Mashaba but the former has defended his actions.
A clash has erupted between ActionSA president Herman Mashaba and Kwena Mangope, his North West regional right-hand man and the party’s member of the North West provincial legislature, that threatens to see the two part ways as political allies.
This is after Mashaba asked the MPL to resign for allegedly neglecting his duties as a public representative.
ActionSA said Mangope failed to support party councillors in Ditsobotla local municipality, but he said he was unable to support them because ActionSA provincial chair Thabo Nkashe stood in his way to undermine his work.
The tension arose after Mashaba told him to resign immediately. ActionSA top leadership also accused him of being absent from office for a long time without providing an explanation.
Traditional mourning period
Mangope acknowledged his absence but said it was compulsory for him to serve a 12-month mourning period as Kgosi (chief) of Bahurutshe Boo-Manyane tribe.
He had to stay home and perform no duties during a mandatory traditional mourning period required of him by his ancestors as the chief of his tribe.
He said this is an ancestral obligation which he communicated to Mashaba’s office in writing.
Mangope said it demanded his seclusion and prohibited him from undertaking public engagements and political campaigning.
“To violate this custom would be to desecrate sacred Setswana tradition and undermine my custodianship of traditions ordained from our foundational ancestors.
“My ability to serve is temporarily impacted by this cultural mandate, not by a lack of commitment,” Mangope said.
Financial accountability
Mangope, the son of the late Bophuthatswana homeland leader Lucas Mangope, also hit back at the ActionSA top leadership for targeting him after he demanded accountability for funds from his constituency office allegedly used at the top rather than spent and accounted for by the constituency office.
Mangope refused to account to the legislature as required by law because he did not have direct control over the money.
The constituency money is controlled by the national finance committee, which told Mangope on 14 February that all party funds should be controlled centrally to prevent corruption, a decision Mangope supported.
He also told Mashaba that his demand that he must resign appeared to “emanate directly from my insistent demand for financial accountability”.
“I have repeatedly challenged the misallocation of North West constituency grants by the national leadership and have refused to endorse financial reports that remain unverified.”
He said he was prepared, as a matter of principle, to face any consequences for upholding this stance on accountability.
“I feel encumbered by the legislature’s expectation that I, as the sole ActionSA MPL, am accountable for funds over which I have no direct control.
I am concerned that I cannot honestly provide an accurate account of how these funds were spent,” Mangope said in a letter to Mashaba.
F4SD feud
Mashaba also demanded that Mangope resign for failing to support the party’s councillors in Ditsobotla municipality.
But Mangope blamed his failure to support the councillors on interference by the party’s provincial chair, who allegedly undermined his efforts.
Moreover, Mangope said, the terms of the merger agreement between ActionSA and Forum for Service Delivery (F4SD) stipulated that F4SD would retain oversight of its own councillors until the 2026 local government election.
For that reason Mangope was unable to intervene in their operational affairs.
F4SD recently merged with ActionSA as part of the ActionSA Green Umbrella campaign.
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