As the ANC braces for continued disputes to its final list of candidates for the upcoming municipal elections, the party revealed that almost 60% of those lined up to represent its wards were new councillors.
Speaking during briefing before the party submitted its final list to the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) on Monday night, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said that ANC lists from across the country had been affected by its decision to formalise the use of community meetings as the final determination on who became ward candidates after the party’s branch nomination processes.
The party’s list conferences have over the years been marred by disputes that morphed into violent community protests as communities accused party leaders of working as power brokers within its lower structures and of imposing leaders who did not enjoy the confidence of communities.
Duarte said some of those who were disgruntled over the lists were current councillors who had not made it onto the candidates’ lists for the local government elections.
“There has been a large changeover of councillors that has taken place and our percentage of retention has been relatively low, depending on the province that you come from. Quite high in some areas but not as high as we had hoped it would be all over the place,” Duarte said.
She said the average retention of councillors on the party’s comprehensive list had been between 40% and 45%.
Duarte said the party had ensured that its comprehensive list maintained a 50/50 gender parity and included 25% of youth in line with its 2017 conference resolutions on representation.
This, however, did not stop its members who were not happy with the outcomes of the list process from various branches and regions from disputing the final outcome of the candidates' lists.
They can lodge formal disputes with the electoral committee led by the party’s former deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe and are staging pickets at the IEC and the party’s headquarters Luthuli House in the Johannesburg CBD.
Duarte said the ANC was however open to review its list to factor in outcomes of the dispute processes if the IEC allowed this but that it currently considered it as a final list.
She also weighed in on the North West saga relating to premier Job Mokgoro’s refusal to leave office, saying the party had got an assurance from Mokgoro that he was willing to step down but that he was waiting for a meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Mokgoro has been digging his heels at the helm of the platinum-rich province as he accused the ANC leadership of allowing his sacking by the interim provincial committee without giving him an explanation, despite having headhunted him to lead the intervention into a governance crisis in the province in 2018.
“Mr Mokgoro has agreed to resign. He has given that to me personally when I met him and he has also on Tuesday [Monday] met with the treasurer general of the ANC [Paul Mashatile] and made that commitment. He is awaiting a meeting with the president of the Republic, which is fine. We have no problem with that,” Duarte said.
She said Mokgoro had undertaken to hand over his resignation letter after meeting with Ramaphosa.
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