Lincoln Vumile "James" Ngculu (born 27 August 1955) is a South African businessman, politician, and former anti-apartheid activist.
After leaving Parliament at the 2009 general election, Ngculu continued to pursue his business interests, notably in the mining sector.
[3][2] In exile, Ngculu was recruited into the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), and also joined the South African Communist Party.
In 1998,[8] after losing his party office, Ngculu was sworn in to an ANC seat in the National Assembly, filling a casual vacancy.
[1][15] Ngculu served as chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Health during the second democratic Parliament from 1999,[16] and the ANC reappointed him that position after the 2004 election.
[21] In October of that year, after Sandra Botha of the opposition Democratic Alliance tabled a motion calling for an inquiry into Tshabalala-Msimang's fitness to hold office, Ngculu proposed successfully to amend the motion to express full confidence in Tshabalala-Msimang; speaking in the house, he accused Botha of "spewing fire that divides this country" and seeking to "embarrass one of us and a person who has been uncompromising in the fight for better health for our people".
As early as January 2001, Ngculu was viewed as a possible challenger to the incumbent provincial chairperson, Ebrahim Rasool,[23] and in October of that year, the ANC Youth League formally endorsed his candidacy.
[24][28] Days before the provincial elective conference, Zola Skweyiya, speaking on behalf of the ANC's National Working Committee, addressed a press briefing with what was perceived as a firm endorsement of Rasool and a firm rebuke of any electoral challenge, saying:We expect stability, politically, and continuity in the province, and that the conference will produce what it has to, what is expected by the leadership of the ANC national.
[32] Less than a year into Ngculu's tenure as provincial chairperson, during the March 2006 local elections, the ANC lost control of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, in a major coup for the opposition DA and its mayoral candidate, Helen Zille.
The ANC argued that this reform would make the municipal government more "inclusive" and "representative", a view which Ngculu endorsed, saying that Zille failed to acknowledge that "anyone who is not white" felt excluded in Cape Town.
[31] Though the ANC's initiative was proposed by provincial minister Richard Dyantyi, the DA's Kraai van Niekerk accused Ngculu, Skwatsha, and their supporters of having "spearheaded the efforts to undermine the democratically elected government of the city".
[38] Media reports suggested that he was also a key donor to the campaign, although in 2012 he dismissed those claims as "rumours mongered by... 'unnamed sources'".
In August 2007, the duo appeared together at a political rally in Gordon's Bay, where Rasool praised Ngculu for unifying the provincial party.
The Western Cape ANC's own elective conference was scheduled for later in 2008, and Skwatsha emerged as the likely challenger to Ngculu's incumbency as provincial chairperson.
[51] The provincial chairmanship went uncontested to Skwatsha, although the vote was boycotted by supporters of Lerumo Kalako, an ally of Ngculu's who had been viewed as a contender.
[52] Other top leadership positions were also filled by candidates who had run on Skwatsha's slate and who were likewise viewed as supporters of Zuma.
[58] After leaving Parliament in 2009, Ngculu published a handful of academic articles[59][60] and engaged in sporadic political commentary,[5] notably entering the 2011 debate that followed Jimmy Manyi's comments that Coloured workers were "over-concentrated" in the Western Cape.