Durban - Zama Ngema-Mngadi is no pushover, and she proved it this week in the presence of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa when two ANC Youth League members confronted her.
Ngema-Mngadi felt tears of anger on her cheeks when the men ordered her to leave a seat two rows from the front of the Pietermaritzburg City Hall, which had been reserved for VIPs. She said she told them to leave her alone if they did not want her to scream at the top of her voice.
The 58-year-old ANC activist from Imbali in Pietermaritzburg, who has strong struggle credentials, was at the venue to listen to Ramaphosa give a lecture at the ANC Youth League Freedom Charter forum on Tuesday night.
Also present were Premier Senzo Mchunu, ANC Provincial Secretary Sihle Zikalala, ANC Moses Mabhida region chairman Super Zuma and the regional secretary, Mzi Zuma.
“When they ordered me to leave the seat, I felt a sharp pain in my heart. I felt hot tears on my eyes, and I told them that if they did not leave me alone, I would report them to Cyril Ramaphosa by screaming very loud.
“I told them I had borrowed R11 to take a taxi to listen to Ramaphosa, and that I cannot be treated like a nobody,” she said. Ngema-Mngadi said on realising that she meant business, the men quietly left her, and she occupied the seat for the duration of the event.
She said she felt discriminated against, despite enjoying VIP status in her own Ward 19, where she is the ANC Women’s League chairwoman.
Ngema-Mngadi said she first became an ANC activist as a young girl at primary school. She said at Sobantu High School in Pietermaritzburg, she joined the Congress of South African Students.
“I was in love with politics and the ANC. My parents even kicked me out of home fearing that I was going to put them into trouble. Many times I had to go into hiding.”
As her parents had feared, Ngema-Mngadi’s house was petrol-bombed, and her activist elder brother was shot and left wheelchair-bound.
Realising the extent of the trouble she had caused herself and her parents, senior ANC leaders in Pietermaritzburg, including the late United Democratic Front leader Skhumbuzo Ngwenya and the late chairman of the Pietermaritzburg Council of Churches, the Rev Sipho Africander, arranged that she leave the country for military training.
“But my elder brother said I must not go since I already had a child to take care of,” she said.
Since she was unemployed now, she dedicated most of her time to ANC politics. She said she had never approached the party’s leaders to organise employment for herself or her children.
She said ANC comrades trusted her as an organiser of party activities.
“If there are going to be branch general meetings, comrades come to me to mobilise attendance because they know that if I am involved, the hall will be packed,” she said.
She felt she did not deserve to be treated the way she was at the event at the city hall.
“Being taken from the front row and thrown to the back was uncalled for and I was not going to allow it,” she said.
A well-known Pietermaritzburg activist said Ngema-Mngadi had a long history in the struggle.
“She lived in Sobantu for a long time, as there was violence in Imbali. She even lived in my home for a while,” he said.
Ngema-Mngadi’s ward councillor, Caiphas Ndawonde, confirmed her struggle credentials and that she was an active member of the ANC.
“But seating arrangements should be respected. There is nothing wrong with obeying when you are told to leave a seat because it is reserved for leaders,” said Ndawonde.
ANC Youth League provincial secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo applauded Ngema-Mngadi for fighting for equality in the ANC. He said the league had not reserved seats for VIPs, except leaders who were seated on the stage.
“She showed that all members of the ANC are equal. We wish she would continue fighting for equal rights of all members. We all pay R20 to join the ANC, so we are equal.
“She came first and she deserved a front seat,” said Sabelo.
The Mercury