Johannesburg – An electoral nightmare looms for the ANC in eThekwini as the party’s alliance partners refuse to endorse the names of candidates submitted to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to contest as ward councillors and proportional representatives (PR).
At the heart of the furore is a bitter battle over who will be the next mayor of eThekwini metro, the party’s biggest and most influential region in KwaZulu-Natal, after regional heavyweight Zandile Gumede was omitted from the list because of her legal woes.
The candidate list has seen the surprise inclusion of Thabani Nyawose at the top of the list. He is a staunch supporter of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
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The inclusion of Nyawose, who was billed to challenge Gumede at the postponed regional elective conference, has ruffled the feathers of the alliance partners, who have made damning claims that the list process was manipulated to favour a faction supporting Ramaphosa.
Ntando Khuzwayo, speaking on behalf of disgruntled ANC members in eThekwini, said there was a campaign to purge supporters of former president Jacob Zuma.
“We are all shocked and are asking ourselves questions as to how comrade Nyawose made it to the top of the list, considering that he was not even nominated by his ward. Comrade Zama Sokhabase was on top of the list, but she was relegated to the bottom. There are many comrades with stronger credentials than him, but he was parachuted to be higher up,” said Khuzwayo. Sokhabase is a PR councillor in eThekwini municipality and Gumede’s staunch ally.
He said the discontented members will soon announce their programme of action, including spilling the beans about senior ANC leaders behind the alleged list manipulation process.
“We will go to the extent of showing evidence and revealing names of rogue elements and masterminds behind the manipulation of candidate lists,” said Khuzwayo. The elevation of Nyawose, a senior manager in the metro, is seen as a vote of confidence in him and a step closer to becoming the next eThekwini mayor. Pundits had predicted that current political head Mxolisi Kaunda would retain his position as he is considered a voice of reason and somebody with impeccable local government experience, but he was booted out.
Kaunda is believed to have fallen out of favour with the CR17 faction. During the funeral service of MK veteran Bheki Thabethe in April, he lambasted Ramaphosa’s leadership, saying it had handed over the echelons of power to the “Stellenbosch mafias”.
Kaunda is ninth on the PR list.
The SACP also rejected the lists and the overall nomination process.
“Our concern is mainly the lack of community participation during the nomination process. Our stand … is that we will not support factional lists,” said SACP KZN secretary Themba Mthembu. Similar sentiments were echoed by ANC Women’s League provincial secretary Nonhlanhla Gabela, who said women were underrepresented in the submitted lists.
“In eThekwini region … in the last elections there were 22 women who were councillors. For the upcoming elections, only eight women have been submitt ed as candidates. We reject any process that undermines women,” she said.
The dissatisfaction with the nomination of candidates in wards has already led to scores of members of the ANC marching to the Seme House, the party provincial headquarters, to raise their grievances. ANC spokesperson in KZN Nhlakanipho Ntombela said the party is dealing with the grievances.
“People should also remember that being number one in the list doesn’t mean that you’ll automatically become a mayor.”
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