Johannesburg – Limpopo ANC provincial secretary Soviet Lekganyane was held hostage by angry ANC members who were baying for his blood after a dispute over the nomination of ward councillor candidates.
The dramatic incident happened in the yard of the governing party’s provincial headquarters, Frans Mohlala House, in Polokwane last week.
Lekganyane was rescued by ANC provincial organiser Joshua Matlou, who managed to calm down the members.
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In a video clip seen by Sunday World, irate party members and other community members from Ga-Maja ward 2 and Ga-Molepo ward 3, descended on the party’s headquarters where they wanted to hand over a memorandum of grievances in which they demanded that the provincial executive committee should reverse the regional executive committee’s decision which they claimed overlooked their preferred candidates in the respective wards.
The names of candidates they nominated at their meetings were apparently overlooked by the Peter Mokaba regional executive committee (REC) members who allegedly nominated their preferred candidates. It is alleged that a complaint was lodged with REC members, who told them they had no authority to deal with the matter and referred them to Lekganyane.
Hell broke loose when Lekganyane allegedly refused to meet their demand. After accepting their memorandum, he told the group that only the provincial list committee (PLC) had the authority to address their grievance.
This angered the protesters, who blocked his way as he tried to leave the party offices in his car to attend another meeting. However, Matlou, who had been standing near Lekganyane’s vehicle, used his negotiation skills to calm the protesters.
An eyewitness, who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation, said the protesters dispersed after Lekganyane pleaded with them to allow him to refer the memorandum to the PLC.
Lekganyane said the party condemns the behaviour of what he called “the rented hooligans” who held him hostage.
“I accepted their memorandum and told them that I would hand it over to the PLC but they wanted me to give them answers on the spot … How was that possible?”
Lekganyane said the PLC is dealing with their matter and hopefully it will be resolved soon.
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