Community members of Ditsobotla Municipality protest outside Luthuli House on September 21, 2020 in Johannesburg, South Africa. They were demanding that Hlomani Chauke step down from all five municipalities in the North West. (Photo by Gallo Images/Sharon Seretlo)
The ANC in the North West continues to implode, with provincial list committee (PLC) chair Lorna Maloney speaking out against what she called a “gross manipulation of processes” by the interim provincial committee (IPC) in this year’s candidate selection process for the local government elections that were held on 1 November.
Maloney described how two parallel lists of council candidates were submitted to the electoral committee, escalating tensions in the already factionally strained province.
Maloney and the list committee, which is composed of provincial elders, have long been at loggerheads with the interim provincial committee, which is led by Hlomani Chauke.
In an interview with the Mail & Guardian, Maloney described how the interim committee had frustrated efforts to run a legitimate candidate selection process and how the strife had resulted in two separate lists going to the party’s Luthuli House national headquarters shortly before the vote.
“When we received nominations from the wards from the branches of the ANC, the result of the ward candidates that were put as candidates, some of them were not [in the final list]. In one way or another, there was manipulation and interference. They have manipulated the list, they have infringed on the process, this is a gross manipulation of everything according to my understanding of the work we are supposed to do,” Maloney said.
One ANC insider with intimate knowledge of the events said the friction between the two provincial structures was frustrating former president Kgalema Motlanthe, chairperson of the electoral committee.
When the two separate lists were submitted, he called a meeting with Chauke and Maloney on the day President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the party manifesto in Tshwane. It was attended by ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte, who ordered Chauke to refrain from interfering with candidate selection.
Maloney described how Chauke’s IPC allegedly bulldozed its way into the selection process.
“They have infringed on what they know exactly they were not supposed to do … They must explain why they have done what they have done, knowing very well that there is a structure that is supposed to do what was required to do, to guide the process of the election of the country,” she said.
She said the provincial list committee had compiled a report to Motlanthe detailing how the IPC was party to a parallel process of interviewing proportional representation (PR) candidates outside of ANC policy, adding that she had faith Motlanthe would resolve the matter.
The M&G previously reported how Motlanthe laid a complaint against Chauke regarding a letter he sent to the provincial structures, which resulted in Duarte threatening to remove him from the IPC for misrepresenting the candidate list guidelines.
Duarte said the letter sent to ANC structures in the North West regarding the electoral committee resolutions was a misrepresentation of an 8 September meeting between the electoral committee, the IPC and the PLC.
“I am writing to officially warn you that if there are any more mishaps, misrepresentation or failure to follow guidelines, we will have no choice but to suspend you as interim provincial committee coordinator of the North West,” Duarte wrote to Chauke.
In another heated letter to North West national executive committee (NEC) convenor Obed Bapela, Duarte said Chauke had displayed “blatant disregard” for the decision of the electoral committee, adding that the ruling party’s top six officials had taken a “dim view” of his actions.
“What makes us strong is that the candidates of the ANC understand when we report to them because at some times we call them to listen, which is a sign of taking them seriously. At least we have people who have trust in you, which makes you stronger because they understand our frustration and they understand that we are dealing with their matters without any fear or favour. This is what keeps us going,” Duarte said.
“We want to see correct people who have been nominated in a fair manner to be placed back to where they are supposed to [be] and those comrades who happen to be in the position where they were told by the ANC and had not been elected or nominated by the community or the processes, to just relinquish those positions and give them to the right people. That is all,” she said.
In a letter directed to party structures and copied to Duarte and Motlanthe on Monday, Maloney said the PLC had never participated in the removal of candidates “duly elected to represent the ANC in any of the municipalities”.
This was after the IPC alleged that Maloney and the PLC had been party to the process of court papers challenging the application by disgruntled members to have the candidate selection list reviewed.
“The deployment of cadres to these positions remains with the ANC, NEC and IPC. The PLC and its chairperson note with regret the attempt by the IPC to mislead our courts, structures of the ANC and the alliance by insinuating that the issues or reinstating the community-elected ward and PR candidates rests with the PLC,” she wrote.
Motlanthe has until 15 March 2022 to resolve all disputes within the ruling party across the country, with the aid of provincial list committees.
In a memorandum he sent out on 19 November, the former president said investigations and the process of hearing from disgruntled members would begin on 30 January, with the finalisation of disciplinary cases against those who have transgressed the process due no later than 7 March.
On 30 March, the ANC will then declare possible ward candidates vacancies. PR councillors who have successfully challenged the list will then be added to a fresh one submitted to the municipal manager and will assume office on 15 April.
By-elections to replace wrongfully elected ward councillors are expected to take place by the end of June.
Efforts to reach Chauke were unsuccessful by the time of publication.
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