Peter Dickson The African National Congress and its ally, the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco), have split in the Eastern Cape ahead of the December 5 local government elections. Sanco’s provincial executive has resolved to back independent candidates in the elections, citing as its reason the ANC’s “delaying tactics” in finalising lists of local candidates. The move, after months of speculation, was confirmed this week by Sanco provincial information secretary Penrose Ntlonti.
The decision by Sanco’s provincial executive comes three months after its national leadership distanced itself from calls by several Eastern Cape branches to go it alone in the December poll, charging the ANC had failed to deliver on its electoral promises. A flurry of meetings between the ANC and Sanco followed, but appear to have reached an impasse in crucial areas of the ANC’s tra- ditional support base, where it has relied heavily on Sanco in post-apartheid elections. Sanco executive member in the Nelson Mandela Metropole (Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Despatch) Mike Tofile said the ANC’s “delaying tactics” left Sanco “with no other option” but to back those chosen by communities instead. Release of the final list was delayed several times and only Sanco veteran Mike Ndzotoyi – listed as number 27 – made the final cut in Port Elizabeth, Sanco’s birthplace. In Uitenhage, the ANC and Sanco are in a bitter fight to the finish. Communities have been starkly divided in the wake of February’s Volks-wagen strike, where 1300 workers lost their jobs. Sanco is backing the workers’ demand for reinstatement and helped several independent candidates collect the 50 ward signatures required for each to contest the election. There are, however, indications that Sanco is coming apart in some Transkei regions. Only days after Sanco’s provincial executive announced it would back independents, 27 Sanco leaders in Umtata and Lusikisiki, the Trans-kei’s poorest and most densely populated districts, made the most surprising decision of all. After a meeting in Umtata on Friday, they opted to join the African Christian Democratic Party and contest the election under its banner. The party’s provincial secretary, Ben Niehaus, said: “They agreed that the [African Christian Democratic Party] is the only vehicle that has an acceptable vision for South Africa.”