Micheal Ngrayi Ngwenya was born on 29 March 1964 and is a South African politician from Mpumalanga.
16 Facts About Ngrayi Ngwenya
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Ngrayi Ngwenya was Regional Chairperson of the African National Congress in Ehlanzeni, Mpumalanga from 2011 to 2019, in which capacity he was an influential ally of Premiers David Mabuza and Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane.
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Ngrayi Ngwenya has successfully established EFF at Nkomzazi by influencing longtime ANC supporters.
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Ngrayi Ngwenya was elected as Regional Chairperson of the ANC's Ehlanzeni branch in 2011 with the support of David Mabuza, who was the Premier of Mpumalanga and Provincial Chairperson of the Mpumalanga ANC.
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Ngrayi Ngwenya held that position until mid-2019, when the branch was disbanded in preparation for a merger.
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In September 2013, Ngrayi Ngwenya was convicted of assaulting politician Collen Sedibe and sentenced to pay a R1,000 fine.
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At another political event, held in Nkomazi in November 2018 during the ANC's 2019 general election campaign, Ngrayi Ngwenya was allegedly again involved in a violent confrontation with other ANC members.
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Ngrayi Ngwenya appeared in court in August 2018 but the trial was postponed.
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Ngrayi Ngwenya endorsed Mtsweni-Tsipane publicly at an early stage of the contest in June 2018.
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In 2019, as the Mpumalanga ANC prepared to hold various elective conferences, Ngrayi Ngwenya was caught on video handing out cash to an audience at a party event; when he was reported to the ANC's headquarters at Luthuli House, Ngrayi Ngwenya denied that he was buying votes, saying that he had given the money to people who would not be delegates to the elective conferences.
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In July 2021, Ngrayi Ngwenya was suspended from the ANC with immediate effect "for a number of acts which appear to be in conflict with the constitution, values, principles and traditions of the ANC".
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The previous weekend, Ngrayi Ngwenya had attended a rally at the Nkandla homestead of former President Jacob Zuma, who had been sentenced to prison for contempt of court.
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The ANC said that Ngrayi Ngwenya had brought the ANC into disrepute with an "inflammatory speech" in support of Zuma, and that he had contravened COVID-19 regulations by organising the transport of people to the rally.
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Ngrayi Ngwenya's suspension entailed that he was not eligible to stand as a candidate when the Ehlanzeni ANC elected a new leadership in April 2022, and Jackie Macie was elected as Regional Chairperson instead, defeating the slate of candidates aligned to Ngrayi Ngwenya and Gillion Mashego.
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In February 2022, Ngrayi Ngwenya told a local radio station that "I am not part of anything that involves the ANC" and that he was focusing on his business career.
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Ngrayi Ngwenya remained a key supporter of Mabuza, who was expected to stand for the ANC presidency or deputy presidency at the party's 53rd National Conference in 2023, and he claimed that the ANC had suspended him precisely in order to thwart Mabuza's rise.