ANC Western Cape provincial executive committee (PEC) member and Ses’khona leader, Andile Lili, has accused the province’s acting chairperson Khaya Magaxa of “trying to stab” him after a heated meeting.
Lili told The Star that Magaxa became violent with him after he objected to Magaxa’s alleged attempts in the PEC meeting on Sunday to reconstitute the disbanded regional executive committee of the Dullah Omar region - the biggest ANC region by membership.
The region was disbanded by the PEC last month.
Lili said he called Magaxa “to order” in front of the ANC’s “top six” officials, including Prez Jacob Zuma, and the party’s senior national working committee (NWC).
Magaxa is also the secretary of the Western Cape SACP, and was elected to the party’s central committee at its National Conference earlier this month.
“The majority had agreed in the PEC that we cannot reverse the decision to disband the Dullah Omar REC. Khaya was pushing for the reconstitution. I also told him that the SACP had no numbers in the province and if it wanted to contest the elections on its own, as the SACP has said, they would not win. That is how he got angry. I told him that in front of the [top six] officials and the ANC’s NWC,” Lili explained.
He said Magaxa confronted him after the meeting where he allegedly tried to stab him.
“There was nothing sinister about me correcting him in a meeting situation. But he saw that as an attack on him, hence he wanted to stab me,” he says.
He says he wanted to fight back but other members asked him to leave the venue.
However, Magaxa denies the allegations as a “factional story”.
“When the decision [to disband Dullah Omar] happened, I was not even present in that meeting,” Magaxa told The Star.
“Lastly, all I know is that Lili is physically challenged and fighting with him wouldn’t be fair - let alone stabbing him. I can’t even use my hands on the guy otherwise I would be organising a jail term for myself.
“I think there is something him and his friends are trying to establish and they are better placed to present you with the facts of their imagined fight.”