Leftists within the tripartite alliance are complaining bitterly that the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party have been sidelined from the African National Congress’s final candidate list for the local government elections.
The ANC submitted its candidate list for the March 1 elections to the Independent Electoral Commission recently. But Cosatu and the SACP’s provincial structures complained that few of their members feature on the ANC national list, which has not been made public.
Senior union and communist officials said they would raise the issue at a meeting with the ANC on January 20. It is also expected to be on the agenda of Cosatu’s central executive committee meeting early next month.
It appears that this week’s extended national working committee meeting of the ANC, which included provincial secretaries and chairpersons, failed to resolve the matter.
The alliance is already battling with disputes among members fighting for positions in municipalities, some of whom have opted to stand as independents in parts of the Western Cape, Limpopo, North West, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and the Northern Cape. Most are understood to be SACP and Cosatu members.
Factionalism appears to be a factor and there are claims that candidates are being marginalised on ideological grounds. In the North West, SACP and Cosatu members claim that any candidate perceived to be a supporter of former Premier Popo Molefe has been excluded.
In the Western Cape, alliance members believe they are being marginalised because they are seen as supporting provincial Premier Ebrahim Rasool.
Some alliance leaders have warned that breakaway candidates could have a significant impact on the ANC’s electoral performance.
Said Cosatu’s Western Cape provincial secretary, Tony Ehrenreich: ”The perception that exclusions are linked to alliance partners and groupings has not been addressed and will undermine our ability to secure a victory. We hope we can still engage and agree on a candidate list that is legitimate, transparent and ensures the prospect of winning elections.”
Ehrenreich said the lack of alliance engagement on the list ”is our greatest weakness”.
”We can’t dismiss the independent candidates who are ANC members because they may have legitimate grievances. This will be a blow to turning Cape Town into an African city.”
Khayalethu Magaxa, the SACP’s Western Cape provincial secretary, said the party had never been part of the election process in the province. ”I don’t know any SACP member in the Western Cape on the ANC list,” he complained.
Although the party had raised concerns with the ANC national leadership, there had been been no response.
Solly Phetoe, Cosatu’s North West provincial secretary, said: ”Most of our members are willing to stand as independents because they feel that the ANC has sidelined them.” Phetoe said the provincial list did not have the people’s support, but ”serves individuals who think they own the ANC”.
David Masondo, chairperson of the Young Communist League, said reports from most provinces indicated that ”people are marginalised on the basis that they are members of the communist party”.
”This works against the idea that we need to strengthen the alliance. The ANC guidelines say that the list should reflect different class components of the alliance, but some people are determined to marginalise members on the basis of ideology.”
Asked about the concerns raised by the alliance partners, ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe said: ”I am not qualified to say the list represents the alliance, because we don’t do head counts.”