Winnie Mandela stands accused of storming Contralesa’s headquarters in a struggle for control of the organisation, reports Mduduzi ka Harvey
WINNIE MANDELA is at the centre of a new political controversy: a struggle for control of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa). She is accused of storming the organisation’s headquarters, changing the locks and leaving with furniture and computers worth R170 000.
Mandela, the deputy minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, is aligned to one of the warring factions led by Contralesa president Phathekile Holomisa. She was named Contralesa’s national treasurer last month by this faction.
Mandela was one of a group of people who arrived at Contralesa’s Johannesburg head office while it was closed during the festive season, taking control and moving computers, furniture and documents to premises in Braamfontein where rival Contralesa offices have been established.
This was confirmed by Mandela’s own ally, Holomisa, but he said it was not a unilateral action: “It was decided at last year’s national conference in December that headquarters was not serving the interests of the regions and had to be downgraded.
“We had to relocate the office to have control over assets. This was not Mandela’s decision, but an NEC (national executive committee) decision. I was personally there when the offices were taken over.”
But other executive members see things differently, saying Mandela’s involvement in Contralesa has split the organisation. Uncertainty reigns about who is in control and which of two national executive committees is the legitimate one.
The faction led by executive director Samson Ndou claims it is still in control of Contralesa because according to the constitution Holomisa had no right unilaterally to convene last month’s annual general meeting during which Mandela was elected treasurer.
“As far I know, we have one NEC and no individual can claim to be in any other NEC. Until such time as an AGM is held and leaders are voted for democratically, we are still the legitimate NEC,” said Ndou.
On the other hand, Holomisa said: “The constitution states that it’s the duty of the general secretary to convene an AGM. Since the last meeting in 1992, he has failed to do so and when our terms expired in 1993, he still had not convened the meeting. It was the unanimous decision of representatives from all six Contralesa provincial constituencies that resulted in the meeting going on.”
An attorney representing the Ndou faction said his office would be looking into the case. The constitutionality of the elections which saw Mandela voted into office was questionable, he said, especially considering that Holomisa had called a meeting despite the fact that he was not general secretary.
The lawyer also wants to look into the question of who gave permission or authority to close down the old offices. A meeting between Holomisa and the lawyers is in the pipeline.
According to Ndou, Contralesa’s problems started 14 months ago when the organisation discussed whether to throw its weight behind the ANC in the general elections, or to adopt a non-partisan stance. “The majority of regions believed we should back the ANC as we are members of the Patriotic Front, but the president (Holomisa) felt strongly that we had to be non-partisan.”
Holomisa disagrees: “There was no division, but a difference of opinion on this issue. Our constitution says we cannot back any political party. We had to follow what the constitution says.”
This difference of opinion was followed by a series of leadership meetings, largely focused on Mandela’s involvement in Contralesa and the setting up of a date for an AGM. According to Ndou, these meetings failed because they were arranged through Mandela’s office and Zee Zee Universal Marketing Promotions Consultancy, a company owned by her daughter, Zinzi Mandela-Hlogwane.
“We could not understand why the president was inviting us to a meeting with faxes from Mandela’s office and not through legitimate Contralesa structures,” Ndou said.
He added that the NEC had writted a letter in July last year to Holomisa saying NEC members would not attend the meeting on grounds that invitations had not been done constitutionally. “No individual can call a meeting without consulting the NEC,” he said.
According to Ndou, two further meetings were held at Nasrec and the Johannesburger Hotel last year. These were attended by some ordinary members but not the NEC because the meetings were organised by Zee Zee Marketing and Mandela was involved.
Eventually, in August, a meeting attended by Holomisa, Ndou and other traditional leaders was held in Cape Town. According to Ndou, a decision was taken to call an executive meeting to work out ways of organising an AGM. “It was agreed no one could do this on his own,” he said.
But four months later, much to Ndou’s surprise, a meeting was held at the Eskom Training Centre during which Mandela was elected national treasurer.
Holomisa insisted that the meeting was constitutional: “All NEC members were present except Ndou and another member.” He added that the meeting was attended by representatives from all six provinces affiliated to the organisation and that the issue of Mandela’s involvement was discussed at length. The representatives agreed that Mandela was eligible to join and she was duly voted in, he said.
Commenting on Mandela’s membership and position, Holomisa said: “Mandela is entitled on her own individual right to be a member of Contralesa. She assisted in raising funds for meetings where Ndou had failed.”
A letter was sent to Ndou this week from Contralesa’s new offices, informing him that he no longer has the authority to act on behalf of the organisation and therefore any action on his part that purports to represent Contralesa would be unlawful.