NELSPRUIT – ANC members will be investigated by the party for their alleged involvement in service-delivery protests. The committee investigating their possible involvement will be headed by Ms Dikeledi Magadzi, a member of the party’s national executive committee.
Mr David Mabuza, ANC Mpumalanga chairman and premier, made the announcement on Monday during the party’s provincial executive committee’s (PEC) lekgotla at Nutting House Lodge.
The two-day meeting was used to evaluate and assess the party’s achievements and weaknesses during the past five years. The premier admitted last week that frictions and conflicts existed within the provincial branch and that the party had grappled to manage this.
This week he said that a special investigating committee had been established to investigate the reasons behind recent service-delivery protests and the people involved therein.
While protests in Mpumalanga has not been as violent as some in other parts of the country, a service-delivery protest last week saw angry protestors at Phola, between White River and Hazyview, barricade a road with burning tyres. The party condemned violence and vandalism between protests.
Graskop residents also recently held a furious protest over housing. In January, a man was also arrested for public violence during a protest in Pienaar.
Mr Sibusiso Themba, spokesman for the provincial ANC, said the investigations will also include two marches that were planned, but thwarted, against the party’s election manifesto launch at Mbombela Stadium on January 11. These were reported as being organised by ANC members of Pienaar and Bohlabela regarding development plans and leadership. The committee is expected to report back on its findings in three months.
