Orania - The last remaining Afrikaner stronghold in the country, Orania, could be taken over by the EFF during the local government elections, by default, if residents abstain from voting.
The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) will be taking part in the elections and has encouraged residents from Orania to cast their votes at either the Pixley ka Seme or Thembelihle municipality districts, even if they decided to spoil their votes.
The EFF will be contesting in the enclave, which prides itself on its self-sufficiency and for preserving the Afrikaner culture and nation.
EFF provincial leader, Aubrey Baartman, on Thursday stated that the party had recruited 16 EFF members, who were living and working in Orania.
“We do not have many supporters but if residents do not go to the polls, there is a strong possibility that the EFF might take control of Ward 2 (Orania), which falls within the boundaries of Thembelihle Municipality. We have elected a candidate to represent the EFF in Ward 2. We however, cannot confirm the rumour that residents in Orania will not be participating in the upcoming elections.”
He added that they had about 500 candidates waiting to occupy positions in council.
“We want to make some changes in Orania, should we take control of the municipality because for years they have been receiving special treatment.”
Orania spokesman, Jaco Kleynhans, refused to react to questions posed to him on Thursday regarding the participation of residents in the elections.
Independent candidate, Danny Jonas, who is currently the executive mayor of Thembelihle Municipality, stated that, according to a national arrangement, Orania had its own municipality and a separate voting system.
He indicated that parties were free to campaign in Orania, as it was a constitutional right to vote.
Jonas added that he would be contesting the elections but did not wish to disclose if he would be representing a specific political party.
According to Jonas, he is number one on the list of the party that he is representing in the Thembelihle Municipality and ranked number three on the Pixley ka Seme District Council.
FF+ mayoral candidate and provincial leader, Wynand Boshof, confirmed that 50 candidates had been elected to represent the district municipalities in the Northern Cape.
“There are three Proportional Representative councillors elected to stand in the Sol Plaatje Municipality and six in the Frances Baard district. We are confident that we will have the FF+ represented in all district municipalities. We have intensified our campaign this year and are working towards improving our financial situation.”
He also indicated that he intends to move to Kimberley after living in Orania for more than 20 years.
“Orania will not be taking part in the local government elections as they wish to remain apolitical. It operates independently of any municipality as it obtains its electricity directly from Eskom and purchases water from the Department of Water Affairs. The community council is responsible for refuse removal and sanitation services.”
Boshof added that Orania considered itself to be a part of the Northern Cape and did not have any issues with the surrounding district municipalities.
“The council receives clean audits every year and is functioning well. It recycles all its waste material and it is one of the cleanest towns in the Province.”
Boshof stated that they would only consider forming a coalition with other political parties after the local government elections on August 3. “We are, however, considering joining forces with the Khoisan Revolutionary Party.”
The Khoisan Revolutionary Party will be contesting the elections for the first time in the Northern Cape, Free State, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng.
The party that represents the Khoisan people is being led by Stanley Peterson, who laid a complaint against Northern Cape Premier Sylvia Lucas at the Human Rights Commission for hate speech for referring to “hotn**te” during a live radio broadcast.
During the 2014 local government elections the FF+ won 76 percent of the votes while the ANC won 1.72 percent of the votes.
ANC members were aggrieved that the candidate lists had not been distributed to the various branches before being submitted to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
Phokwane members complained that one of the ward candidates was facing an attempted murder charge and was currently out on bail.
They indicated that it was a mockery of the integrity committee as candidates were not supposed to have a criminal record.
Spokeswoman for the ANC, Naledi Gaosekwe, said the lists would only be released at a later stage.
She added that the party was in the process of vetting all candidates, while those who were not eligible would be disqualified.
Gaosekwe pointed out that councillors could be disqualified on the grounds of being unrehabilitated insolvents, being declared to be of unsound mind by a court of law or, after 1996, being convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment without the option of a fine.
“No one may be regarded as being sentenced until an appeal against the conviction or sentence has been determined or until the time for an appeal has expired. A disqualification ends five years after the sentence has been completed.”
She stated that the ANC had a registered candidate for Ward 2 (Orania).
According to the IEC there are 621 310 voters on the voters roll for the 2016 local government elections (an increase of 37.65 percent) from 2011.
On Thursday was the deadline for parties to hand in their nomination lists as well as for independent candidates to register.
The IEC on Thursday indicated that it was not prepared to divulge any preliminary information regarding the number of parties and candidates registered, until all the information had been verified.
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