KZN ANC independents a cause for concern

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Published May 27, 2016

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Durban - As political parties gear up for the August 3 local government elections, the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal faces open revolt from its members over the nomination of candidate councillors, with some disgruntled members deciding to contest the municipal elections as independent candidates.

The move is fuelled by unhappiness over the resolution of irregularities in the councillor nominations and claims that candidates were imposed on wards.

This has been aggravated by the tensions arising from the elective conferences that split the party between incumbent provincial party chairman, Sihle Zikalala, and his predecessor, Senzo Mchunu.

On Thursday, the ANC confirmed it was aware that some of its members were considering standing as independents in parts of KZN.

“If comrades are unhappy and decide to stand against the party, that is a grave concern. That plants seeds of disunity,” provincial spokesman, Mdumiseni Ntuli, said.

The Daily News learnt this week that disgruntled members resolved to field “community councillors” to the Independent Electoral Commission by the June 2 cut-off.

“Those who were overlooked as candidate councillors will be community councillors,” a source said.

The source said affected wards had lodged complaints with the ANC, but there was no resolution despite the ruling party holding a national list conference at the weekend.

“We are running against time,” said the source, in reference to the ANC national list conference to be held at the weekend.

Sources put the number of outstanding disputes at 50 in the eThekwini region, but this could not be verified because secretary, Bheki Ntuli, could not be reached.

While the Daily News heard independents would be fielded in parts of the province, the number was placed at 15 in the eThekwini Metro.

“These people have popular support from communities. The ANC will be defeated or the number of its seats will be reduced. It is a serious matter,” the source added.

Ntuli said they understood that their members had deep love and commitment to the ANC.

“It should not be easy to abandon the ANC to support independents,” he said.

Ntuli said at the centre of the problem with candidate councillors was who was in the current leadership, something he deemed should be frowned at.

He said the extended provincial committee, attended by alliance partners, had met on Wednesday to scrutinise the lists before they were taken to the national list conference.

According to the reports presented by the regions, all complaints were resolved and technical issues such as gender and ID numbers of some candidates attended to.

Political analyst, Professor Sipho Seepe, said the question of ANC members standing as independents had to do with power and access to resources.

“Many of the people contesting for positions don’t have gainful employment other than political activism. When people don’t get into positions, it is a threat to their livelihood,” Seepe said.

He said the lack of transparency and perceived corruption in leadership contributed to this move.

“They (disgruntled members) say if the party is not listening, we will go and say the people will decide. Independents exploit the notion that ‘the people shall govern’.”

He said it was not a foregone conclusion independents would win over the ANC, because voters could punish them if they realise they revolted against party processes.

Daily News

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