Tshaka rejects ‘stripped of powers’ claim

The claim: Siphiwo Tshaka was stripped of his powers as ANC regional secretary in Nelson Mandela Bay.

Finding: Not established by the evidence reviewed. The accounts conflict. TPR has not authenticated a resolution specifying a transfer of powers.

Siphiwo Tshaka has rejected claims that he has been stripped of his powers as ANC regional secretary in Nelson Mandela Bay. He says he has received no formal communication about such a decision and disputes the regional executive committee’s authority to take it.

The distinction between a meeting assignment and the removal of an elected official’s powers is at the heart of the dispute. Deputy regional secretary Nontombi Nama acknowledges a mandate to convene an REC meeting. Whether that mandate extends further remains unresolved on the evidence available to TPR.

The claim received prominent coverage in The Herald on 11 November. Its report carries Tshaka’s denial, the allegation of a transfer of functions and responses from Nama and the ANC’s provincial secretary. TPR has also examined a statement dated 11 November, supplied to us and issued in the name of the REC, alongside the party’s constitutional rules.

Tshaka’s account

Tshaka told the newspaper that the regional meeting began on Sunday with discussion of the election outcome and coalition choices. He says a detailed campaign review still required reports from local structures.

He says he sent an apology for Monday’s continuation because of family commitments. According to his account, the question of his powers or suspension arose in regional chairperson Babalwa Lobishe’s closing remarks and had not been on the agenda.

The alleged transfer

Unnamed party insiders quoted in the report allege that Monday’s meeting handed Tshaka’s powers to Nama and appointed her acting regional secretary. One unnamed REC member explicitly distinguishes the alleged transfer from suspension, saying Tshaka had not been suspended.

Nama’s reported response identifies a specific assignment. Asked how long she would act, she said the meeting had asked her to convene an REC meeting: “I was mandated by the meeting.”

The report describes separate meeting notices issued by Tshaka and Nama, with Nama signing as acting regional secretary. TPR has not examined the originals or authenticated a resolution setting out the arrangement. A title on a reported notice cannot establish the full scope or duration of an appointment without the decision behind it.

When approached for the report, ANC Eastern Cape secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi said he was unaware of the developments and would speak to Tshaka and Lobishe. Lobishe did not respond to The Herald’s calls and messages, according to the report.

What the REC statement says

The supplied statement describes a “frank and robust discussion” of the election outcome. It says internal matters will be handled through the ANC’s structures and communicated to members through the proper channels.

Its letterhead lists Tshaka as secretary and Nama as deputy secretary. The statement does not announce a change to either position or explain the alleged transfer of powers. The office-bearer list is relevant to the account of who holds office, but does not establish which duties each person is currently performing.

The document is issued in the REC’s name and identifies regional spokesperson Bamanye Matiwane as its contact. TPR has not independently verified its public release.

Elected authority and the ANC’s rules

The regional secretary is elected; the REC operates under provincial oversight. Its supervisory powers do not expressly authorise stripping the secretary’s functions (21.5.3; 21.9–21.10).

REC disciplinary proceedings against its office-bearers require the provincial secretary’s prior written approval (25.10). Disciplinary removal differs from temporary membership suspension. Only national or provincial executive or working committees can impose temporary membership suspension; notification need not be public (25.21.8; 25.34; 25.56–25.68). ANC Constitution, amended in 2022.

A temporary task, a reassignment of specified duties and removal from office are not interchangeable. Any claim of a wider transfer needs to identify the functions affected and the authority relied on. A procedural objection does not, by itself, establish that the alleged decision never occurred.

The Bay’s governing choices

The dispute comes at a decisive stage in the formation of Nelson Mandela Bay’s next administration. The DA holds 53 of the council’s 120 seats and the ANC 32, all ward seats. The ANC has no municipal proportional-representation seats. No party has an outright majority. TPR’s council-seat report and ESP’s results record the allocation.

Tshaka’s account in The Herald describes the ANC weighing a governing arrangement, including one with the DA, against going into opposition. The supplied REC statement names no preferred coalition partner. It says the region will submit its assessment to the Provincial Executive Committee, whose coalition framework will guide the final decision.

The report’s unnamed sources raise complaints about the PR list and campaign reporting. Tshaka says the review needs the outstanding reports from local structures. The REC statement accepts the voters’ verdict while saying specific concerns raised by branches and party agents at voting stations have been referred to its legal team. It says any further step would require legal advice and endorsement by higher party structures. It does not establish electoral wrongdoing.

The REC sets out its conditions for a governing arrangement: residents’ interests, council stability, protection of the poor and working class, and opposition to corruption. It also says water, electricity, refuse removal and other basic services must continue while the council is constituted. These are commitments against which the regional leadership can be judged as negotiations proceed.

Finding: the broader claim remains unresolved

Tshaka denies losing his powers. Nama acknowledges a mandate to call a meeting. The allegation of a broader transfer remains disputed, and TPR has not authenticated the decision that would establish its terms.

It would therefore be premature to report Tshaka’s loss of powers as a settled fact. The missing evidence is the decision itself: who took it, what it authorised and on what basis.

Publication history: This article first appeared on 11 November 2026 and was withdrawn that morning. This revised fact-check includes the supplied REC statement and a new TPR-branded graphic.

How we checked: We read supplied photographs of The Herald’s 11 November report and its continuation, and the four-page REC statement supplied to TPR. We compared the relevant ANC constitutional provisions and checked the council-seat figures against the linked records. The participants’ responses are attributed to the newspaper; the REC’s positions are attributed to the supplied statement. TPR conducted no independent interviews for this fact-check.

Publisher disclosure: Siphiwo Tshaka is editor-in-chief of The People’s Register, which is published by ANC Nelson Mandela Region. Those relationships are relevant to this coverage.