North West ANC chairperson Nono Maloyi says in the absence of enforcing strict disciplinary action, “silly” members would have cost the governing party voter support.
Maloyi told Sunday World that, overall, the ANC fared well in terms of service delivery in the province, except for glaring internal challenges in the organisation. He said the ANC brand was losing touch with voters because a lot of ANC public representatives behaved in a ‘foreign’ manner.
“Some of our own comrades have been silly and not doing what we expect of them as the ANC,” he said.
“That is why some of them have been expelled from the ANC and some removed from the positions they held.”
Maloyi cited the dysfunctional municipality in Dotsobotla as an example, saying that restoring public trust in the ANC had not been an easy task. He said internal party squabbles where councillors fought for positions, defocused public representatives on service delivery issues.
“When you go to the council meeting and look at the agenda, it is not saying anything about development or service delivery,” he said.
He continued: “It is about the removal of the municipal manager or mayor.”
He said the ANC’s intervention in Ditsobotla involved both President Cyril Ramaphosa and his deputy, Paul Mashatile, who both found the situation
pathetic.
“There was just no focus on issues of service delivery, and people did not even care about those issues. Consequently, residents blamed the ANC and not the individuals.”
Maloyi said this was the main reason why the ANC lost one ward in Ditsobotla and its majority. To turn the situation around, he said, the ANC provincial leaders had to go back to communities and explain the party’s challenges.
“I’m happy that our people now have confidence in the ANC,” he said.
He said in the recent Rustenburg by-elections, the party increased its margins.
“In the previous by-elections, we won that ward with just over 900 votes, and this time we won it with more than 1 200 votes.”
“Our people are now convinced that the ANC is serious about service delivery, and I’m quite happy,” he said.
Going into the 2024 general elections, Maloyi said he was aiming for more than 65% voter support. He said his mandate to the provincial ANC executive committee was that the party must strive for 70%, but nothing less than 65%.
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