The African Christian Democratic Party in the Free State on Wednesday urged the African National Congress and the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) in the province to sort out their differences.
”We [the ACDP] were not in the least surprised that Sanco announced its determination to post its own candidates in the coming municipal elections,” Casper Nordier, Free State ACDP leader, said in a statement.
Nordier reacted to comments by Sanco in the Free State on Tuesday that it would contest the forthcoming local government elections alone.
A group of Sanco members marched to the offices of the Mangaung local municipality in Bloemfontein on Tuesday, demanding that the Mangaung mayoral committee be disbanded.
However, Nordier doubted if these plans would materialise due to pressure from national level.
”That would nevertheless not solve the ongoing problem of the ANC by not valuing Sanco’s role on municipal level, and the crisis would continue after the local government elections,” said Nordier.
He said in a number of recent municipal unrest situations in the Free State, friction between Sanco and the ANC played a role.
”In one case, a Sanco branch even requested the ACDP to take a list of community grievances to higher authority, as the ANC was protecting its own elected office-bearers implicated in the memorandum,” Nordier said.
”This is in effect what is happening now, where Sanco demands that the Mangaung mayoral committee members, who participated in former mayor Papi Mokoena’s decision-making, not be included in the list of candidates.”
Nordier said for the sake of stability in the Free State, the ANC should not ignore Sanco’s role at grass-roots level.
”It is clear that Sanco is now done with giving way each time the ANC wants it to and this threatens the stability of the province,” said Nordier. — Sapa