Johannesburg - The African National Congress (ANC) Joe Slovo branch in Yeoville, Johannesburg, on Monday called on the party leadership to intervene over the selection of councillor Martha Mazibuko.
The branch submitted a memorandum of demands calling on the ANC Secretary General and National Executive Committee (NEC).
Deputy chairperson of Joe Slovo branch, Siphiwe Shabangu, said: “We request the SG and NEC to include our branch in the branches that will be visited to hear their grievances, as when we looked at some of the branches included in that list we are confident that we have a strong case that needs to be heard, more than some of included branches, some of which at first glance are frivolous.”
The protesting Yeoville residents handed their memorandum to an official at ANC headquarters at Luthuli House.
Shabangu said the branch wanted, through the Candidate Dispute Resolution Process, to address the issue of the candidate selection process and to challenge the selection of Mazibuko.
He said they did not understand the selection of Mazibuko, as Vusi Mhlongo, the former councillor, had performed well during the selection process.
“The branch strongly feels that the candidate was imposed to the branch and the electorate as she was not the leading candidate at any point in the branch,” said Shabangu.
Mbuyiseni Khoza, also of the Joe Slovo branch, said “We have been trying to engage with leadership since last year in terms of ward councillor dispute and the leadership never comes back to us, so we want them to tell us how did they get to that decision to appoint the present councillor Mazibuko which we are not happy about it.”
The ANC was rocked by multiple disputes about the nomination of councillor candidates ahead of the August municipal elections, with matters in some cases resulting in deadly violence.
African News Agency