EFF MP Sihle Lonzi has lodged a formal complaint with the Public Protector to investigate the NYDA Board Candidate, Zwelo Masilela’s appointment as a senior researcher in 2016 at the Mbombela Local Municipality without relevant qualifications.
The EFF’s choice to target Masilela has brought South Africa’s political scene back into the public front and exposed the chronic problems with irregular cadre deployment that still afflict the nation’s government.
Masilela’s employment at the Mbombela Local Municipality, where he served as a senior researcher from 2016 until 2023, is at the heart of this escalating dispute.
Now, these five years are being closely examined. Masilela is the treasurer general of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL).
The situation is further complicated by the fact that Masilela only earned his journalism degree at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in 2021, long after he was appointed to the senior position at Mbombela, according to his curriculum vitae, which he submitted during his interview for a board position with the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) on February 26, 2025.
This eye-opening discovery calls into question the openness of his appointment and the length of time someone without the necessary post-matric credentials can hold a prominent position.
This case has far-reaching ramifications, suggesting possible shortcomings in the hiring procedures and the widespread practice of political patronage that has long weakened South Africa’s governmental institutions.
Lonzi argued that the municipality violated the Municipal Systems Act, 32 Of 2000 by randomly deploying unfit people to take over top positions.
Lonzi requested the Public Protector to probe the municipality’s decision to place Masilela as a senior, without assigned research responsibilities for the first two years, which constitutes an irregular expenditure of municipal resources.
The Public Protector’s office has acknowledged receipt of the complaint.
“Your complaint will be assessed to determine whether the Public Protector has a mandate to investigate the allegation (s) as contained in your complaint.
“You can expect the outcome of the assessment within 10 working days,” the response read.
However, the ANCYL President Collen Malatji has stood up to defend his fellow comrade.
In a media briefing at Luthuli House on Thursday, Malatji said those who have been employed in a political office will know that Masilela’s situation was nothing new.
He said the EFF was just grandstanding yet they were the most corrupt party.
“A corrupt organisation like the EFF, led by a corrupt commander in chief, goes and lays charges to the Public Protector about something that is not there.
“We still do not know how that leader of the EFF survived a case of money laundering, a case of corruption, and a case of using a trust fund of his son,” said Malatji, adding that EFF is the last organisation to speak about corruption.
Politics
