Michael "Ngrayi" Ngwenya is a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n politician from

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

. He was Regional Chairperson of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC) in Ehlanzeni, Mpumalanga from 2011 to 2019, in which capacity he was an influential ally of Premiers

David Mabuza David Dabede "DD" Mabuza (born 25 August 1960) is a South African politician who has been Deputy President of South Africa since February 2018. He was the Deputy President of the African National Congress (ANC) from December 2017 to December 2022 ...

and

Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane Refilwe Maria Tsipane (born 3 September 1973), known as Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane (alternatively spelt Mtshweni), is a South African politician and a party member of the African National Congress (ANC), who has been serving as the 5th Premier of Mp ...

. In July 2021, he was suspended from the party for five years because of his role in organising a political rally in support of former President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

. Nicknamed 'Lomdzala', Ngwenya joined the

Economic Freedom Fighters The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African left-wing to far-left pan-Africanist and Marxist–Leninist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) President Julius Malema, and hi ...

(EFF) in June 2023. Immediately after Joining EFF, the ANC offices in Drikoppies, Mpumalanga rebranded from the traditional ANC colours to EFF colours and logo.He has successfully established eff at Nkomzazi changing the minds of old people whom were captured by the Corrupt ANC. Grayi Nyenywa is currently a fighter until god remembers him.

ANC Regional Chairperson: 2011–2019

Ngwenya was elected as Regional Chairperson of the ANC's Ehlanzeni branch in 2011 with the support of

, who was the

Premier of Mpumalanga The Premier of Mpumalanga is the head of government of Mpumalanga province in South Africa. The current Premier of Mpumalanga is Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane, a member of the African National Congress, who was appointed in March 2018. She took off ...

and Provincial Chairperson of the

ANC. He held that position until mid-2019, when the branch was disbanded in preparation for a merger. He was viewed as Mabuza's "right-hand man". In September 2013, Ngwenya was convicted of

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

ing politician Collen Sedibe and sentenced to pay a R1,000 fine. The charges arose from an incident during an ANC meeting on 18 April, at which Ngwenya and another man had punched and kicked Sedibe after a disagreement; the incident also led to Sedibe's expulsion from the ANC. At another political event, held in Nkomazi in November 2018 during the ANC's 2019 general election campaign, Ngwenya was allegedly again involved in a violent confrontation with other ANC members. Faith Makumo laid criminal charges against him, alleging that he had

stabbed A stabbing is penetration or rough contact with a sharp or pointed object at close range. ''Stab'' connotes purposeful action, as by an assassin or murderer, but it is also possible to accidentally stab oneself or others. Stabbing differs fro ...

her. He appeared in court in August 2018 but the trial was postponed.

Alleged assault of Lindiwe Ntshalintshali

In July 2019, violence broke out at an ANC meeting called to discuss a decision to disband the Ehlanzeni and Bohlabela regional branches in order to amalgamate them into a single branch; acting ANC Provincial Secretary Lindiwe Ntshalintshali sustained minor injuries before the police dispersed the crowd with rubber bullets. After Ntshalintshali laid criminal charges against him, Ngwenya was suspended from the ANC. Although an application to reverse his suspension in the

Pretoria High Court The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law which has general jurisdiction over the South African province of Gauteng and the eastern part of North West province. The main seat of the division is at Pretoria, w ...

failed, Ngwenya's membership was restored in October, when the ANC National Disciplinary Committee acquitted him of misconduct. Ntshalintshali continued to maintain that Ngwenya had assaulted her and said in the aftermath, "The ANC cannot claim to fight

gender-based violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence includes any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification. Types of gender-related violence include: * Violence against women (sometimes referred to simply as ...

while they cannot protect us who are inside the organisation." She also raised questions about the neutrality of the ANC disciplinary process, calling it "highly managed" and arguing that one of the disciplinary committee's members,

Bongani Bongo Bongani Thomas Bongo (born 29 June 1978) is a South African politician, whose ANC membership is currently suspended along with the party's secretary-general Ace Magashule. Bongo is the former Minister of State Security, a position to which he w ...

, was personally friendly with Ngwenya.

Suspension from the ANC: 2021–present

With David Mabuza, Ngwenya was viewed as a key supporter of Premier

's bid to succeed Mabuza as ANC Provincial Chairperson. He endorsed Mtsweni-Tsipane publicly at an early stage of the contest in June 2018. In 2019, as the Mpumalanga ANC prepared to hold various elective conferences, Ngwenya was caught on video handing out cash to an audience at a party event; when he was reported to the ANC's headquarters at

Luthuli House Chief Albert Luthuli House in Johannesburg, more simply known as Luthuli House, is the headquarters of the African National Congress (ANC) and other subsidiary organizations. The name "Luthuli House" is frequently used as a metonym Metonymy () ...

, Ngwenya denied that he was buying votes, saying that he had given the money to people who would not be delegates to the elective conferences. In July 2021, Ngwenya was suspended from the ANC with immediate effect "for a number of acts which appear to be in conflict with the constitution, values, principles and traditions of the ANC". The previous weekend, Ngwenya had attended a rally at the

Nkandla homestead The private residence of former South African President Jacob Zuma is situated about south of the rural town of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal and is commonly referred to as the Nkandla homestead. During Zuma's presidency, the homestead was the su ...

of former President

, who had been sentenced to prison for

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...

. The ANC said that Ngwenya had brought the ANC into disrepute with an "inflammatory speech" in support of Zuma, and that he had also contravened COVID-19 regulations by organising the transport of people to the rally. His suspension would last five years, until 2026. Ngwenya's suspension entailed that he was not eligible to stand as a candidate when the Ehlanzeni ANC (now including Bohlabela) elected a new leadership in April 2022, and Jackie Macie was elected as Regional Chairperson instead, defeating the slate of candidates aligned to Ngwenya and

Gillion Mashego Gillion Pudumo Mashego (born 23 November 1965) is a South African politician who served as the Mpumalanga MEC (Member of the Executive Council) for Public Works, Roads and Transport from July 2018 until February 2021. He has been a Member of the ...

. In February 2022, Ngwenya told a local radio station that "I am not part of anything that involves the ANC" and that he was focusing on his business career. However, he remained an influential figure in Mpumalanga politics. He also remained a key supporter of Mabuza, who was expected to stand for the ANC presidency or deputy presidency at the party's 53rd National Conference in 2023, and he claimed that the ANC had suspended him precisely in order to thwart Mabuza's rise.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngwenya, Ngrayi Living people Year of birth missing (living people) African National Congress politicians 21st-century South African politicians Politicians from Mpumalanga South African politicians convicted of crimes