THANDISIZWE MGUDLWA l Monday, September 5, 2022
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Many are asking if Mzwanele “Teenage” Nyhontso’s re-election as President of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) will take this organisation to it’s former glory days. Time will certainly tell.
Teenage, who is also a member of the National Assembly of South Africa, must prove himself as a leader of note. Archival information shows that Teenage was born and bred at Macibe Village in Centane.
His late father was Edward Nyhontso, a committed and dedicated member of PAC in the Centane branch. When the Pan Africanist Student Organisation (Paso) was launched, Mzwanele Nyhontso became the district leader in the Centane District while he was a student at Macibe Senior Secondary School in Centane.
Teenage reported to be a well trained Apla Combatants who was trained in the jungles, bushes and forests around Centane. He never went abroad to receive military training.
A PAC activist who commented on Social Media had this to say about Teenage, “Our current President is the right person because he knows each and every corner of our Land.
In December 2018, Nyhontso was elected leader of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania. His leadership has been marred by infighting between factions in the party and leadership challenges.
At this stage, his leadership was disputed by Narius Moloto, who was elected PAC leader at a different elective congress earlier in 2018. In May 2019, Teenage was elected to the National Assembly as the PAC’s only MP.
And in June 2019, Teenage became a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence, the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology, the Portfolio Committee on Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, the Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy, and the Disciplinary Committee.
Teenage was re-elected as PAC leader in September 2019, while another faction re-elected Moloto as leader in August 2019. Teenage was officially recognised by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) as the legitimate leader of the PAC.
In November 2020, Nyhontso’s parliamentary membership was suspended by speaker Thandi Modise after the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the 2019 decision by the Moloto’s faction to expel him could only be set aside by a court of law.
Teenage then approached the Western Cape High Court and it ordered his reinstatement as a Member of Parliament in the interim on 3 December 2020, pending a decision of the Court regarding the challenge of his recent removal by his party.
In February 2021, the High Court dismissed an application by Moloto’s faction for leave to appeal an interim ruling that reinstated Teenage as the party’s single representative in the National Assembly with costs.
Teenage’s application to reinstate him as a Member of Parliament was set aside in May 2021. He then sought to appeal the ruling. On June 23, 2021, he lost his parliamentary membership again. Bennet Joko was sworn in to replace him.
The North Gauteng High Court officially recognised Nyhontso as the legitimate leader of the PAC on August 23, 2021, however, the judgement was based on a technicality due to Moloto’s notice of appeal of an earlier ruling not being received by the court’s registrar. The court declared Moloto’s election in August 2019 invalid.
Nyhontso’s confirmation as president allowed him to return his seat in the National Assembly and he was sworn in on September 2, 2021, replacing Joko.
After being re-elected last week at the party’s national conference held in Seshego, Limpopo, despite violent scenes at the commencement of the conference, Teenage rose triumphantly and declared that his election will boost the party’s performance in the 2024 national elections.
“In the last elections we received a lot of councillors and with those councillors we are going to benchmark and make them a launching pad point for the 2024 national elections. So, it’s just a foundation for us so we will definitely come up with better numbers in 2024.
So we will be a better player in South Africa politics. Remember for South African politics, the future is in coalitions and you need numbers. And in coalitions, you must have numbers. Numbers don’t lie and that is the PAC we want,” said Teenage.
