The media has exaggerated problems with the nomination of African National Congress (ANC) candidates for the May 18 local government elections, the ANC in Gauteng said on Wednesday.
“The new approach to the list process, especially community involvement, has not received a fair assessment by the media,” provincial secretary David Makhura told reporters in Johannesburg.
“Few instances of disgruntlement in some provinces are presented as the ‘chaos of the ANC list process’.”
Makhura said the problem had not hit Gauteng as hard as it had other parts of the country.
“The democratic nature of the list process has not stopped those who lost to try to organise a section of their supporters to protest against candidates who were legitimately nominated.”
There was also “nothing unusual” about disgruntled ANC members contesting independently.
“We have been going to different communities to clarify confusion and lies spread by those few in our branches who refuse to accept democracy,” Makhura said.
“These elements stand no chance in winning any ward in ANC strongholds.”
Protests
Protests erupted across the country over the nomination of ANC candidates — who were selected for the first time with community involvement. The frustration over candidate lists led to court challenges against the ANC in the Eastern Cape. In the Western Cape, the party offices were stormed and the provincial leadership threatened.
President Jacob Zuma last month announced that a team would be set up to probe how popular candidates were removed from the ANC’s candidate lists.
Makhura said the ANC’s election campaign in Gauteng was on track and would intensify in the run-up to the poll. He was also confident that the ANC would win the hotly contested Midvaal municipality — held by the Democratic Alliance (DA).
“Our work among voters who have not supported the ANC in previous elections is yielding substantial results,” Makhura said.
He said the ANC was set to remain at the helm of most Gauteng municipalities.
The DA-led Midvaal municipality had been a focal point of the election campaigns of both parties, with the ANC intent on winning it from the opposition. Both parties have made allegations of irregularities during voter registration. The ANC has accused the DA of failing to provide services for farm workers in the area and reports have surfaced of the municipality allegedly evicting black families from the area.
The DA, however, charges that the municipality has been recognised as the best run in Gauteng by the provincial government.
Makhura claimed the ANC in the province had reached two million people through its door-to-door work since January. It was now aiming to reach about 500 000 per week as the May 18 polls drew closer.
‘The campaign of the opposition in Gauteng has retreated’
He believed the DA had played its campaign cards too early.
“The DA pitched too early in campaign talk. They promised very early and very confidently to take over key municipalities such as Johannesburg and Tshwane,” Makhura said.
“The campaign of the opposition in Gauteng has retreated … They have retreated to Cape Town basically.”
The DA had “no hope” of winning any municipality in Gauteng and was changing its campaign tactic from “winning” to “talking about increasing black support”, Makhura said.
The ANC in Gauteng announced the defection of 34 DA members from Ekurhuleni — led by ward councillor, Liliwe Mlilwana, who was also the DA’s Tembisa chairperson.
Mlilwana left the DA on being suspended after she was sequestrated. She did not have information on who she was sequestrated by — it was not voluntary. She left the party with her constituency. Once she disclosed the sequestration to the DA, she was also taken off the party’s candidate lists.
Mlilwana swapped her blue DA T-shirt for a bright yellow ANC one, shedding the old garb and discarding it by throwing it on the floor — her constituency followed suit. The group of defectors, led by Makhura, then broke into song, belting out a song dedicated to slain struggle hero Solomon Mahlangu. — Sapa