/ 23 February 2011

Don’t be distracted by local election circus

You will know that we are a few weeks away from local government elections when a leaflet drops in your street.

You will know that we are a few weeks away from local government elections when a leaflet drops in your street informing you that your local mayor is corrupt and drinks with girls until 2am.

“Wake up residents and do not be fooled,” implores the pamphlet message, urging for him not to be returned to office.

It is that season and the desperation is showing as the date approaches. And when the group supporting the mayor alleges that his proposed replacement, a female candidate, is in a romantic relationship with the regional chairperson (who is part of the leadership that decides on who becomes mayor) you know that gutter, dirty politics are back in town.

The ANC’s candidate selection process is under way countrywide and the party has promised that this time around it will choose ward candidates who are well known, respected and popular in their communities. It promised an open process in which the decision will not be taken by a coterie of party gatekeepers but will involve the community.

But complaints from activists that land on my desk and my personal experience over the past few weeks in the West Rand, having attended a few of the meetings, have shown that there is way too much at stake for some people for the process to be allowed to run openly, neutrally and without interference from higher levels.

One email I received says that ANC branches in Merafong, Westonaria and Randfontein on the West Rand are up in arms against the regional executive committee, which they want disbanded because it interfered in their regional list conference that recently took place.

“The regional chairperson and secretary were seen dividing delegates by addressing only their specific factions and instructing them on whom to vote for,” read their complaint. The branches have lodged protests with Gauteng’s ANC leadership but those who sent the complaints to me say they do not want to be identified because “if you are seen to be too knowledgeable and spot on, you will be targeted and not be deployed in any government position”.

The ANC Gauteng provincial executive committee last week gave these disgruntled members a hearing and will soon decide if they merit action. But the whole process is marred from the start by undue influence, interference and favouritism. Members of the ward selection committee (which is the first step) were selected by local leaders who already had particular interests and who in most instances gave these committee members mandates to score certain candidates higher than others.

Candidate selection
The ANC branches are the ones that select four or five candidates who are subjected to a selection process by the selection committee. The process includes submission of CVs, formal interviews and lastly a public meeting where the communities participate by asking the candidates questions and indicating in other ways whether they approve of each candidate.

This last process, I observed, is also influenced by regional deployees who run these committees and who submit their own report as distinct from the selection committee. A major complaint was that these deployees were also briefed to promote one or the other of the candidates. In one incident I witnessed, a woman belonging to the wrong faction was slapped across the face.

The process is ostensibly transparent and fair but like so many other things in this country, where a matriculant may pass with distinction after stealing exam papers or a murder accused walks free because police have destroyed a docket, it is clear that mostly the chosen candidate reflects the choice of the dominant faction, which has nothing to do with community interests or a fair outcome of a clear process.

So the residents of Merafong who are remembered for taking the law into their own hands when former president Thabo Mbeki and Sydney Mufamadi famously decided which province they would fall into are now at the mercy of some of their own who want the levers of power and patronage.

The current mayor has been in power for only about two years after the Zuma administration took steps to stabilise the area and therefore wants to be given a chance to complete his work. But a different faction wants a female candidate whom they regard as more capable.

But in all of this the community is left out. And community members can either laugh at the hilarious gossip in the pamphlets and dismiss it and trust the judgment of their leaders or they can actively engage with the process and try to change the face of local government for the better. But welcome to the circus.