- Former ANC councillors to contest as independent candidates
- Free State provincial leaders aggrieved
- Ruling party to continue engaging disgruntled group
- High-powered delegation lead efforts to heal rifts
Work to engage disgruntled former ANC councillors in the Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality will continue in earnest as directed by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party after its meeting over the weekend pondered around the matter.
The latest engagement with the 15 comes hot on the heels of their decision to register and contest the upcoming by-elections in the area on August 22 as independent candidates, following their axing last year.
It also comes at the backdrop of alleged lies being peddled regarding the true aim of the intervention of the provincial executive committee (PEC) of the ANC in matters threatening the stability of the movement in the area.
Speaking to The Weekly in an interview on Wednesday evening, ANC provincial spokesman Thabo Meeko said the party’s NEC recommended continued engagement with the disgruntled members in an effort to bury hostilities and enable the movement to face the opposition as a united force in the crucial by-elections.
“The matter of MAP councillors is a long standing one which has run its race and must now be buried for good. We are indeed aggrieved that they decided to run for the by-elections as independent candidates since as the ANC we are of the belief that independent candidates account only to themselves and do not have an organisation where grievances against them can be levelled,” noted Meeko.
He added the decision to fire the 15 councillors from serving in MAP municipality might not have been the best one to be taken, but it was necessary to instil discipline within the ranks of the party and to save it from sliding into a ‘barbaric organisation.’
He further indicated that despite the false perception created around the PEC of the ANC being in the area to collapse the party, the movement’s leadership was well received by residents in areas that they had been visited during campaigning so far.
The spokesperson contended the ANC is ready to reclaim MAP by winning the by-elections after it chose all 15 candidates earmarked to stand as its candidates at a public meeting where residents had a voice as to whom they wanted to lead them.
“It is a fallacy that people from Bloemfontein are the ones that will be leading the council. All our candidates are from Maluti-a-Phofung and were elected during an open process at a public meeting where the residents endorsed them, so we are indeed confident of victory and having our mandate renewed in this area,’ he said.
“They were also serving as part of the collective in that council, and we fought struggles side by side with them and they are from QwaQwa. They were chosen in an open public process to advance our aim of uniting the entire progressive forces behind the ANC for improved service delivery and a better life for our people in this region.”
Meeko further pointed out to instill unity among the ANC rank and file, the congress movement deployed its senior officials, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and NEC member Siyabonga Cwele to MAP since Monday to cement the efforts of the PEC in healing rifts in the area.
“The intention of the ANC PEC in intervening in MAP was never to collapse the municipality but to bring in stability,” he explained.
He also cited financial management challenges bedevilling the area and surrounds have much to do with the low tax and revenue generation conditions prevalent there, including high unemployment rates leading to people not being able to pay for municipal services.
Meeko said the ANC in the Free State, cognisant of the dire financial situation in MAP and other municipalities in the province, had resolved to also rope in the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa to assist ailing councils to get fairer budget allocations from the national purse.
“As at present the population of our province continues to shrink with people moving to other provinces in search of greener pastures. Our economy has been depressed as a province and we decided to call on the President to help re-look at our budget allocation model,” he noted.
The by-elections in MAP are scheduled to be contested by the EFF, ACDP and the 15 independent candidates comprising former ANC councillors.
