The African National Congress has dramatically removed Eastern Cape Provincial Secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi and Gauteng Provincial Coordinator Hope Papo in a bold move aimed at tightening political control over two of the party’s most troubled provinces.
The explosive decision was taken by the ANC’s National Working Committee (NWC) amid growing fears within the party over deepening factional warfare, collapsing internal unity and mounting instability ahead of crucial local government elections.
Ngcukayitobi’s removal comes after months of bitter infighting in the Eastern Cape, where accusations of rigged branch verification processes and court battles plunged the province into chaos and forced the indefinite postponement of the ANC provincial conference.
The political drama intensified earlier this year when a fake resignation letter bearing Ngcukayitobi’s name circulated widely on social media, sparking confusion and exposing the deep divisions tearing through ANC structures in the province. At the time, he denied resigning.
In Gauteng, Hope Papo was removed after the ANC national leadership reportedly concluded that he had failed to exercise firm political authority over increasingly volatile regional structures.
The move forms part of a wider restructuring process by the ANC leadership, which is now shrinking and reshaping Gauteng’s bloated provincial task team in an attempt to create smaller, more disciplined and functional structures capable of stabilising the organisation before the next local elections.
Insiders say the latest purge signals a growing desperation within the ANC to regain control of provinces that have become battlegrounds for rival factions and internal power struggles.
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