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According to information at our disposal, Finance MEC Bonakele Majuba will be sacked because of the SACP’s pronouncement that they will be contesting the 2026 elections independently outside the Tripartite Alliance. – DA Mpumalanga legislature caucus leader, Bosman Grobler.

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Sizwe sama Yende

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The SACP in Mpumalanga has dismissed as hearsay allegations that its provincial chairperson, Bonakele Majuba, was to be sacked as Finance MEC.

SACP provincial secretary, Lucky Mbuyane, reacted after the DA claimed that it had received information from an ANC insider about a cabinet reshuffle that would be precipitated by rift between the ANC and its alliance partner, the SACP.

Relations between the alliance partners have soured since the SACP announced that it had decided to contest the local government elections independent of the ANC. The SACP demurred when the ANC partnered with the DA and formed the Government of National Unity, which it viewed as a serious contradiction.

DA Caucus Leader in the Mpumalanga Legislature, Bosman Grobler, said in a statement that his party was concerned that the the ANC-SACP infighting ahead of the 2026 local government election may derail government services.

“Rumours are gaining traction that the current MEC of Finance, Bonakele Majuba, is allegedly about to be sacked and replaced by Mandla Msibi, a shady character in the province,” Grobler said.

He said that reliable sources told him that Premier Mandla Ndlovu was about to do a major reshuffle, not just in provincial departments, but also in the Mbombela Local Municipality. 

“The DA was informed that Majuba is allegedly about to be sacked and replaced by Mandla Msibi in the Finance Portfolio.  According to the information at our disposal, Majuba will be sacked because of the SACP’s pronouncement that they will be contesting the 2026 elections independently outside the Tripartite Alliance,” Grobler said.

Mbuyane said that this matter was never raised by the ANC. “We regard this information as hearsay at the moment,” he said. 

Msibi is the ANC’s provincial treasurer. He is not employed in any government position. Msibi was MEC before the ANC disciplinary committee found him guilty of trying to sabotage the January 8 celebrations held in Mpumalanga last year January.

The committee slapped Msibi with a three-year suspension, with two of those years suspended. He returned to his position as treasurer in June after serving one-year of his suspension but the ANC did not deploy him in legislature or back in cabinet as one of the top five officials of the ANC. The ANC only employs the provincial secretary full-time. The other top five officials are usually deployed to key government positions.

Msibi laughed off Grobler's claim. "I'm an ANC official and there's no such discussion in the province. Grobler is living in another world," Msibi said.

Grobler said the source said Ndlovu would sacrifice Select Committee on Public Accounts chairperson, Desmond Moela, in the legislature, and redeploy him to be a Mayor of Mbombela Local Municipality. After being sworn in as legislature member, Msibi will thereafter be appointed into cabinet.

“If the cabinet reshuffle rumours are true, as stated by our sources, then we have a serious catastrophe in the province, as the time spent on recycling shady characters in government, and managing the infighting within the Tripartite Alliance, may distract the provincial government and municipalities from addressing the core issues of poverty alleviation, job creation, and improving the quality of service delivery for the people,” he said.

“The DA would like to categorically state that we will not accept Msibi as the new MEC of Finance because of his alleged shady past. We will protest such development with all available platforms at our disposal,” Grobler added.

Before the ANC disciplinary committee charges, Msibi had previously faced multiple charges of murder, attempted murder and assault to do grievous bodily harm. He was however cleared of all of them.