More than 3,000 members of the ANC in Mpumalanga picketed at the party's provincial office demanding that its national executive committee disband the current provincial executive committee, accusing them of dividing the party through selection of councilor candidates in a factional manner as the party concluded its submission of names to the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC).
The disgruntled members are from all the three regions of the province.
They picketed on Friday and removed the gate and broke the gate.
Some of the protesters wore T-shirts bearing “enzeni U-Zuma” and “wenzeni u-Ace” (meaning what have former president Jacob Zuma and suspended ANC secretary-general done).
“We want this PEC out. Their mandate has lapsed and they are now doing whatever they want. They started by dividing us as members at this critical time where we are heading to the local government elections by removing names of people we nominated at ward level and replaced them with their people from their factions," said said Bushbuckridge’s ward 16 secretary Real Modipane.
Modipane accused acting chairperson of the ANC Mandla Ndlovu of placing his friends in different municipalities so that his friends can get tenders.
Ndlovu told Sowetan that whatever the members were saying was their wishes but his executive had not removed any member nominated by communities.
“As far as we know we have submitted names and we are contesting all municipalities in the province. If there are technicalities they will be sorted at national. Their wishes that we be disbanded is just their wishful thinking and we can not say anything about that. Those saying I do tenders or discard people because I want certain companies to have tenders must go to hell. I don’t do tenders,” said Ndlovu.
The march by the ANC members was followed by the visit of Magashule, who went with suspended Ehlanzeni regional deputy convener, Ngrayi Ngwenya to deliver food parcels to families in the Nkomazi municipality.
The current PEC of the ANC was elected in December 2015. It has been working as a skeleton without a chairperson and deputy chairperson since 2017, when former chairperson David Mabuza and his deputy Violet Siwela, were elected in the NEC.
The ANC in Mpumalanga failed to hold its elective provincial, general council and also failed to hold conferences since then owing to violence that erupted in ward general meetings and Covid-19 prohibition of mass gatherings.
At least five people have died and more than 20 injured during ANC meetings meant to nominate candidates to lead the party in regional and provincial structures.
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