Punches and insults are flying amid tension over the ANC’s municipal councillor lists in the Dr WB Rubusane region.
The outbursts have been blamed on power struggles, especially when popular choices of candidates put forward by members on the ground are overridden by party bosses higher up the rungs.
Members said their mini-revolt was based on similar manipulations of 2011 election lists, and that national leadership instructions for popular choices to be respected were being brazenly ignored.
In one claim this week, two factions hurled insults at each other in the street as one group toyi-toyed past the home of a city councillor who was surrounded by supporters.
The Dispatch was told of physical battles involving punches, shoving and angry words in at least four wards, but the contest has turned sour in a number of other wards too, sources said.
People complained that party members’ popular choices of candidate were rudely replaced by party officials higher up in Wards 1 and 2 in Duncan Village, Ward 45 in Ilitha township, Ward 49 in Ndevana, and a number of wards in Mdantsane and King William’s Town.
In these wards, residents claimed that the winning nominations put forward and voted for in public hearings were simply ignored and that other candidates were thrust upon them.
The spats and backbiting now seemed endless, said members, who blamed party seniors for “creating confusion” in a number of ANC wards.
Conflicts have spread from Mdantsane to wards around King William’s Town, and now members are taking to the streets to protest, often violently.
In Ward 1 in Ducan Village, party member Thenjiswa Mtatsi yesterday said Koko Qebeyi won the vote of the majority during public hearings but party bosses still went ahead and named Kuhle Chiliza as the proposed new councillor for the area.
Mtatsi said if the popular will of the majority of members was not respected, there was a real chance of members abandoning the ANC and giving their vote to other parties.
“Kuhle was our branch chair and she never did anything for us.
“In 2011 she stood against our current councillor and lost.
“After that she left for the DA and even recruited some people in our area for that party.
“However, we are now totally surprised that she is being touted as our next councillor, despite her not being popular on the ground,” said Mtatsi.
She said some fist fights had broken out between warring factions, resulting in assault cases being opened with police.
“To continue pushing for Kuhle will divide the ANC in this ward.
“We have met and told ourselves that should they continue to push for her, we will not vote for the party,” she said.
Chiliza could not be reached yesterday.
In Duncan Village’s Ward 2, ANC members told the Dispatch that the incumbent, Mlandeli Mateke, was now being imposed for another term even though he only managed third place on the list.
“We have written to the region and they never responded to out complaint.
“Our fear is that the same thing that happened in 2011, when councillors were imposed to us, might happen again.
“The national office represented by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma compiled a report stating that those councillors were wrongly elected in 2011 but nothing was ever done to rectify that, and that councillor is still in office.
“It now seems we will have a repeat of that,” said a party member who wanted to remain anonymous.
In Ward 45 in Ilitha, residents have vowed to field an independent candidate if their choice is sidelined.
Ward member Siyabonga Nongqayi yesterday said the party was forcing current councillor Gideon Norexe onto them, despite the majority vying for Thulani Tempi to take over the reins.
“We have just sent a petition to the national office to rectify this because we have lost all confidence in our region, which does not take us seriously.
“Now the community has decided to raise funds to register Tempi as an independent candidate if this mess is not fixed soon.
“We said it must either be Tempi, our popular choice, or we sell our votes elsewhere,” Nongqayi said.
Tempi yesterday refused to comment, while Norexe could not be contacted.
A similar scenario is unfolding in nearby Ward 49 in Ndevana, where party members are angrily demanding that their councillor, Nkosinathi Mphathalala, their preferred candidate, be retained.
They claim that Mfundo Botha is being imposed on them.
Party member Mzwanele Buwa said they had vowed not to vote for the party if Botha emerged as the election candidate.
Attempts to get comment from both ANC regional acting secretary Gura Maleki and provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane proved fruitless at the time of writing. — asandan@dispatch.co.za
Fists fly over ANC’s BCM lists
The outbursts have been blamed on power struggles, especially when popular choices of candidates put forward by members on the ground are overridden by party bosses higher up the rungs.
Members said their mini-revolt was based on similar manipulations of 2011 election lists, and that national leadership instructions for popular choices to be respected were being brazenly ignored.
In one claim this week, two factions hurled insults at each other in the street as one group toyi-toyed past the home of a city councillor who was surrounded by supporters.
The Dispatch was told of physical battles involving punches, shoving and angry words in at least four wards, but the contest has turned sour in a number of other wards too, sources said.
People complained that party members’ popular choices of candidate were rudely replaced by party officials higher up in Wards 1 and 2 in Duncan Village, Ward 45 in Ilitha township, Ward 49 in Ndevana, and a number of wards in Mdantsane and King William’s Town.
In these wards, residents claimed that the winning nominations put forward and voted for in public hearings were simply ignored and that other candidates were thrust upon them.
The spats and backbiting now seemed endless, said members, who blamed party seniors for “creating confusion” in a number of ANC wards.
Conflicts have spread from Mdantsane to wards around King William’s Town, and now members are taking to the streets to protest, often violently.
In Ward 1 in Ducan Village, party member Thenjiswa Mtatsi yesterday said Koko Qebeyi won the vote of the majority during public hearings but party bosses still went ahead and named Kuhle Chiliza as the proposed new councillor for the area.
Mtatsi said if the popular will of the majority of members was not respected, there was a real chance of members abandoning the ANC and giving their vote to other parties.
“Kuhle was our branch chair and she never did anything for us.
“In 2011 she stood against our current councillor and lost.
“After that she left for the DA and even recruited some people in our area for that party.
“However, we are now totally surprised that she is being touted as our next councillor, despite her not being popular on the ground,” said Mtatsi.
She said some fist fights had broken out between warring factions, resulting in assault cases being opened with police.
“To continue pushing for Kuhle will divide the ANC in this ward.
“We have met and told ourselves that should they continue to push for her, we will not vote for the party,” she said.
Chiliza could not be reached yesterday.
In Duncan Village’s Ward 2, ANC members told the Dispatch that the incumbent, Mlandeli Mateke, was now being imposed for another term even though he only managed third place on the list.
“We have written to the region and they never responded to out complaint.
“Our fear is that the same thing that happened in 2011, when councillors were imposed to us, might happen again.
“The national office represented by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma compiled a report stating that those councillors were wrongly elected in 2011 but nothing was ever done to rectify that, and that councillor is still in office.
“It now seems we will have a repeat of that,” said a party member who wanted to remain anonymous.
In Ward 45 in Ilitha, residents have vowed to field an independent candidate if their choice is sidelined.
Ward member Siyabonga Nongqayi yesterday said the party was forcing current councillor Gideon Norexe onto them, despite the majority vying for Thulani Tempi to take over the reins.
“We have just sent a petition to the national office to rectify this because we have lost all confidence in our region, which does not take us seriously.
“Now the community has decided to raise funds to register Tempi as an independent candidate if this mess is not fixed soon.
“We said it must either be Tempi, our popular choice, or we sell our votes elsewhere,” Nongqayi said.
Tempi yesterday refused to comment, while Norexe could not be contacted.
A similar scenario is unfolding in nearby Ward 49 in Ndevana, where party members are angrily demanding that their councillor, Nkosinathi Mphathalala, their preferred candidate, be retained.
They claim that Mfundo Botha is being imposed on them.
Party member Mzwanele Buwa said they had vowed not to vote for the party if Botha emerged as the election candidate.
Attempts to get comment from both ANC regional acting secretary Gura Maleki and provincial secretary Oscar Mabuyane proved fruitless at the time of writing. — asandan@dispatch.co.za
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