Mlungisi Hlongwane

Jonathan Mlungisi Hlongwane is a South African politician who served as president of the South African National Civics Organisation (SANCO) from 1995 to 2008. He also represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly in 1999 and as Executive Mayor of Gauteng's Sedibeng District Municipality from 2005 to 2008.

He left the mayoral office and SANCO in November 2008, when he defected from the ANC, a close partner of SANCO, to join the newly formed Congress of the People (COPE). He served as COPE's provincial chairperson in Gauteng and its head of elections in the 2009 general election. However, following about four months at COPE, and before the election had taken place, Hlongwane said that he regretted his choices and rejoined the ANC.

SANCO: 1995–2008 Hlongwane was national president of SANCO from 1995 to 2008, gaining re-election on several occasions – his third term was won in 2001 after a bitter contest against Moses Mayekiso. During his tenure, SANCO was frequently the target of accusations of financial mismanagement and misappropriation of funds. In 2002, trading of such allegations among SANCO's own top leadership led to the resignation of Dan Mofokeng, Hlongwane's secretary-general, after a bitter and public argument with Hlongwane. The Mail & Guardian said that Hlongwane "presided over the decimation of SANCO and helped turn it into an anaemic shadow of its former self".

Presidential term limits: 2006 Hlongwane was viewed as a strong ally of President Thabo Mbeki, who took office in 1999. In January 2006, SANCO controversially announced that it intended to propose that the Tripartite Alliance should campaign for a constitutional amendment that would allow Mbeki to stand as head of state for a third term. Hlongwane denied this.

It transpired that the decision to suspend Hlongwane had indeed been made by an inquorate meeting, but, days later, the decision was taken afresh and Hlongwane was suspended. His deputy, Ruth Bhengu, explicated a long list of grievances against Hlongwane, including wide-ranging leadership failures and a basic failure to convene meetings; the Mail & Guardian said her presentation was convincing enough "to counter perceptions that [Hlongwane] was suspended because of this support for a third Thabo Mbeki presidency". In future months, SANCO remained severely divided between Hlongwane's supporters and his detractors. In April 2005, the ANC announced that it would send Hlongwane to join the council at Sedibeng District Municipality in Gauteng, where he was elected as mayor. He stood as the ANC's mayoral candidate in the 2006 local elections the next year and was elected to a full term in the mayoral office.

Defection to COPE: 2008 When Sam Shilowa and Mosiuoa Lekota announced that they intended to defect from the ANC and establish a new party, Hlongwane immediately said that he intended to follow them. He complained of "factionalism", "moral decay", and institutionalised "violence and intimidation" in the ANC, saying that he had "never ever experienced a leadership of the ANC so insecure and paranoid of their gravitas and legitimacy". Hlongwane promised to use SANCO's resources and membership base to strengthen the new party.

Upon joining COPE, Hlongwane resigned from ANC membership and from the Sedibeng mayoral office; He was also considered to be a frontrunner for selection as COPE's candidate for Premier of Gauteng. Although he did not win the premiership nomination, he went on to serve as chairperson of COPE's branch in Gauteng, in parallel to his duties as elections coordinator.

Return to the ANC: 2009 Only months later, in March 2009, Hlongwane announced his return to the ANC in memorable circumstances. He scheduled a press conference in Johannesburg with Transport Minister Jeff Radebe, who had secured the facilitation of Talk Radio 702 by promising an announcement of "national importance". However, at the last minute, the radio station cancelled the briefing at its offices, saying that it had discovered that the announcement was "not of national import". According to COPE, COPE deputy president Shilowa had taken over the management of the campaign about a month ago following revelations of Hlongwane's incompetence. He was not sworn in to the seat. As of late 2018, he remained active in regional ANC politics in Sedibeng.

Personal life Hlongwane is married to Greta Hlongwane, who is a local ANC politician in Gauteng. She remained a member of the party when Hlongwane defected to COPE in 2008.