Cape Town -
Andile Lili and Loyiso Nkohla, leaders of Ses’khona People’s Rights Movement, said their organisation would not be supporting the ANC unless the ruling party released national land for housing.
The two men had their expulsion from the ANC overturned on a technicality after the party’s provincial disciplinary committee found that their initial hearing was flawed. Lili was suspended a year ago and Nkohla a month ago.
On Tuesday, Nkohla told the Cape Argus his reinstatement to the party did not mean the ANC had gained the support of the Ses’khona movement.
“It’s not like they liked us. They are obsessed with the number of our followers. Ses’khona won’t be used to campaign for the ANC. It will remain a non-government organisation.”
He said Ses’khona would back the ANC only once its “terms and conditions” were met, including the release of national land for building houses. Lili, on the other hand, said he was pleased to be back in the ANC.
“I’m very happy because we never really broke the rules,” he said. “The ANC had become unpopular in the poor communities, which is why they wanted us back. National put pressure on provincial to bring us back, especially with the elections coming up.”
Meanwhile, Western Cape Premier Helen Zille wants the ANC leadership in the province to give assurances that a planned service delivery march to the Western Cape’s provincial legislature on Wednesday will be peaceful following the reinstatement of the poo war ringleaders.
The ANC is set to take to the streets of Cape Town on Wednesday, protesting for better service delivery for the poor in the province. But the DA-led provincial government is concerned that Nkohla and Lili, who masterminded a series of protests against the City of Cape Town’s use of portable toilets in informal settlements, will continue what the DA dubbed their “ungovernablity campaign”, aimed at causing disruptions in the province.
Zille said the move (to reinstate them) showed how disingenuous the ANC had been all along in trying to avoid blame for the rhetoric inciting violence and destructive riots that Lili and Nkohla were behind for months.
“They have been carrying out these threats by organising disruptive blockages of the N2 highway… and leading violent marches in the city centre where they incite participants to loot street vendor stalls and vandalise the premises of businesses operating in the CBD,” she added.
She suggested that the ANC’s decision to reinstate the pair was solely an election ploy. “This… appears to be motivated by alleged difficulties with campaigning and a desire to boost their fortunes by co-opting these individuals.”
Cape Argus