The South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) has called on the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) and Gauteng provincial executive committee (PEC) to address alleged sabotage against City of Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero.
Sanco Johannesburg regional chairperson Brian Maropene accused the recently elected regional executive committee (REC), led by Loyiso Masuku, of intentionally destroying the works of Morero instead of improving governance and resolving the challenges faced by the city.
This is because the ANC REC lekgotla held between January 16 and 18 in Vaal extended invitations allegedly to non-members of the party.
“Sanco Johannesburg is firmly convinced that the newly elected ANC Greater Johannesburg REC lacks both the capacity and the revolutionary clarity required to stabilise governance in Johannesburg.
“Rather than resolving contradictions, it has deepened them, manufacturing the illusion of a failing mayor while accelerating institutional paralysis,” said Maropene.
Image of party unable to govern created
Maropene emphasised that invitations should have been restricted to only ANC deployees within the City of Johannesburg.
He noted that city manager Floyd Brink used the platform to criticise the recently established multi-disciplinary intervention team called Bomb Squad, which is meant to combat crime and improve service delivery, among other responsibilities.
He said the REC has worsened the problem by bringing internal tensions into the movement instead of resolving them for the benefit of the people.
He said that by allowing officials to undermine political leadership, the REC has deepened the conflict between Morero and Brink, weakened leadership, and contributed to the service delivery crisis.
He said residents of Johannesburg suffer most while the ANC’s political opponents benefit from the image of a movement unable to govern.
“There is no doubt that the conduct of the ANC Greater Johannesburg REC amounts to a direct undermining of the ANC executive mayor in the city.
“This behaviour serves not the interests of the ANC or the alliance, but those of a faction driven by narrow self-enrichment.
“Factional struggles detached from the interests of the masses are not accidental; they are symptoms of an organisation losing its material anchor in the people.”
Sanco wants political discipline restored
He went on: “Revolutionary history teaches us that for a faction to live, the organization must die. The ANC’s slow and painful erosion is inseparable from this internal political economy of factionalism.
“Sanco Johannesburg therefore calls upon the PEC and NEC to intervene decisively and restore political discipline and revolutionary purpose,” said Maropene.
Sunday World reported at the weekend that Morero has officially laid a complaint against the Election Management Consulting Agency of Africa (EMCA) for manipulating the votes to ensure Masuku’s win, overturning him as ANC Johannesburg regional chairperson.
He claimed that Noluthando White, the owner of EMCA and the media liaison officer recruited for the City of Johannesburg while Masuku was MMC for group corporate and shared services, was behind the rigging of votes.
However, records showed that White resigned as director from the company on September 27, 2021.
