Cape Town - The ANC says it is going ahead with preparations for the local government elections – even though two of its top officials in the Western Cape are currently engulfed in controversy.
This weekend the party’s provincial secretary, Faiez Jacobs, will appear before a provincial disciplinary committee for bringing the party into disrepute after his alleged physical assault of researcher Wesley Seale at the ANC’s provincial office.
ANC provincial chairperson Marius Fransman has been accused of sexual harassment by a 20-year-old woman and, while no criminal charges have been brought against him, the complaint has been referred to the party’s “integrity committee”.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said the elections were months away and accusations against Jacobs and Fransman should have no impact on the party’s local government election campaign in the Western Cape. Mantashe said the ANC’s lekgotla this weekend would “refine” its approach to the elections.
ANC provincial spokesperson Jabu Mfusi said the party was a “collective organisation” and that Jacobs’s absence did not mean its work came to a standstill.
The party’s elections list process would continue until the end of this month, with branch general meetings under way where each ANC branch had to nominate four candidates for each ward.
“Those candidates must go to the communities, we want the communities to have a say in our democracy… They will be the ones who vote for these candidates,” said Mfusi.
For each voting district the ANC has promised to call a special meeting where its ward candidates, almost like a primary, would have to take questions from voters.
After that the community would then give “approval” for their preferred candidate.
Because places on the electoral list are so coveted, an eight-day period of disputes would then follow. The party would then hold its list conference, which should be held by the end of next month.
Mfusi said ANC candidates should have knowledge of local government and preferably have some sort of academic qualification. “Our people must improve their knowledge because when you go to council, there are agendas that you must understand,” said Mfusi.
It was expected that those ANC candidates who did not possess the academic qualifications had to use their time in council to attend courses which would improve their understanding of municipal systems.
The ANC would retain 60 percent of its current number of councillors and the rest would be “fresh blood”.
“There’s experience, you can’t willy-nilly remove all of them and put in people who will take time to understand,” said Mfusi.
ANC Boland chairperson Pat Marran said the party could not be sidetracked by distractions.
The ANC had targeted the Langeberg, Witzenberg and Breede Valley municipalities for takeover said Marran.
The ANC was hoping to get a boost from the participation of smaller parties in the elections and while they might not take over these parties, they could ultimately hold the balance of power.