DURBAN - THE ANC in KwaZulu-Natal is in a race against time as it looks to finish the hearings on disputes stemming from the nomination of councillor candidates a few months ago.
The governing party started its hearings at the beginning of November after complaints from some branches that some candidates’ names had been forwarded for consideration without due process being followed.
Dissatisfaction over the compilation of councillor candidates’ lists saw some party members in regions including eThekwini and Moses Mabhida marching to regional and provincial offices to raise their concerns.
In reaction, the provincial leadership set up a committee chaired by Cyril Xaba to conduct hearings on grievances launched by the affected members from different branches.
Speaking to The Mercury this week Xaba expressed optimism about completing the process by the end of next week, saying they had managed to deal with the biggest regions of eThekwini and Moses Mabhida (Pietermaritzburg).
“We have managed to deal with branches that are in the lower part of uThukela, now our focus shifts to the northern part of the province and we believe the hard work has already been done,” said Xaba.
While he did not give the number of grievances they had listened to as the committee, he conceded there were many.
“We will be focusing on regions that include Newcastle, Inkosi Bhambatha and right up to the far north, and because they are smaller we are convinced we will complete the process quite soon,” he said.
ANC KZN spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said they were waiting for Xaba to present the report before deciding on the course of action.
It has been suggested that in some instances branches may have a rerun of the nomination process of councillor candidates, a development that could see some councillors getting recalled if they are found to have manipulated their way on to the list.
Several governing party members said they were keenly awaiting how the provincial leadership would handle the report, especially if it recommended recalling councillors.
However Ntombela cautioned against speculation before the process had ended.
“What needs to happen is for comrades to wait until the process has been concluded, and for those who have objections to the committee findings to follow party procedures in raising their objections,” said Ntombela.
He added that those with objections had the opportunity of appealing their matters to the committee headed by national executive committee member Kgalema Motlanthe.
The dispute over councillor candidates’ lists has been cited in some quarters as one of the reasons for the ANC’s poor performance at the local government elections where it narrowly won control of eThekwini Metro with the co-operation of smaller parties.
THE MERCURY