The uMkhonto weSizwe Party’s (MK Party) election campaign in North West faces complaints from grassroots structures over missing campaign posters — a matter listed this week among the pressing issues that led to the axing of secretary-general Sibonelo Nomvalo.
Party activists in the province say ward councillor candidates have entered the final stretch of campaigning without posters bearing their names and faces.
“The whole of NW (North West) doesn’t have ward councillor candidate posters; we’re carrying the heavy load as if we’re independents,” an activist told Sunday World.
The person accused national officials of taking charge of provincial election structures without offering sufficient practical support.
“What is worse, some national officials imposed themselves on us but only check structures via telephone calls,” the activist said.
Sunday World could not independently establish whether every North West ward candidate lacks posters.
The party, however, acknowledged campaign-material delays in its statement announcing Nomvalo’s removal on Thursday.
The statement listed concerns about candidate selection, internal factionalism, dual remuneration and delayed campaign materials among the reasons for his dismissal.
It also cited changes to parliamentary administration and high-level deployment committees allegedly created without the knowledge of authorised leadership structures. “These matters have raised concerns regarding organisational coordination, internal communication, accountability and adherence to established party procedures,” the statement said.
The party did not identify the provinces affected by delays.
Documents obtained by Sunday World show that North West’s election preparations had encountered administrative problems at least two months earlier.
In an August 17 letter, Nomvalo informed the provincial elections convener that the party had postponed candidate photography and administrative processing. He attributed the postponement to the province’s late submission of councillor candidates.
“Due to the late submission of councillor candidates by the North West province, the scheduled programme for capturing councillor candidate photographs and administrative information has been rescheduled,” the letter said.
The party moved the exercise to August 20 and arranged two national teams: one for Rustenburg and another for Mahikeng.
Provincial organisers had to arrange venues and ensure candidates arrived with IDs for verification.
The letter shows that the candidate photography programme was running behind schedule in August.
On October 13, the MK Party cancelled its planned manifesto launch rally and redirected attention to campaigning in wards.
It launched the Molo Makhelwane programme, directing candidates, activists and volunteers to visit households and engage residents until November 3.
The shift increased the importance of grassroots campaign materials, particularly posters identifying candidates to voters.
An analysis of the IEC’s September certified lists puts the MK Party’s total number of North West ward candidates at about 340 out of 402 wards.
Nomvalo’s dismissal came just 13 days before the November 4 municipal elections.
The party appointed Lindiwe Mtshali as acting secretary-general and instructed her to work with national chairperson Mxolisi Phakathi.
Spokesperson Sifiso Mahlangu also assumed additional deputy secretary-general responsibilities. The MK Party did not respond to questions.
- The MK Party in North West is facing complaints from grassroots structures about missing campaign posters for ward councillor candidates during the final stretch of campaigning.
- Party activists accused national officials of taking over provincial election structures without providing adequate practical support and only monitoring via telephone calls.
- Secretary-general Sibonelo Nomvalo was removed partly due to issues including delayed campaign materials, internal factionalism, and candidate selection problems.
- An August 17 letter from Nomvalo revealed that candidate photography and administrative processing were postponed due to the late submission of councillor candidates by the North West province.
- The MK Party cancelled its planned manifesto launch rally on October 13 and shifted focus to the Molo Makhelwane campaign program, emphasizing grassroots door-to-door engagement until November 3.
