ANC at risk of losing municipal seats due to internal feuding

The ANC’s internal feuding and alleged manipulation of its own candidate lists in the 2021 local government elections may backfire badly, causing it to lose seats in some municipalities.

In a bid to avoid being charged with contempt of court, the ANC has moved to mend its mistake and plans to reinstate its councillors illegally removed from its candidate lists and secretly replaced with politically connected individuals who were “parachuted” onto its 2021 party lists.

ANC ‘parachuted’ mayors

The “parachuted” councillors are serving as mayors, whips and other top positions in various municipalities.

The North West and KwaZulu-Natal are on top of the list of provinces to be investigated because of the high numbers of irregularities.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the ANC national executive committee resolved to appoint a “special team” to probe the two provinces.

“The ANC will investigate all allegations of irregular conduct and non-compliance with the rules and procedures for the 2021 local government candidate selection process,” he said.

“The ANC will implement the findings and recommendations of the investigation and take remedial and disciplinary action.”

Community’s concerns ignored

In the North West alone, 72 municipal wards were affected and, if the ANC removes the “parachutes” and by-elections are held, it risks losing many wards as voters were fed up with the party.

Since November 2021, the ANC has ignored the community complaints while the “councillors” continued in their positions.

Now the ANC is facing contempt of court charges in the high court in Mahikeng after failing to comply with an earlier ruling that it rectifies irregularities in three wards in the Madibeng local municipality.

Kgalema Motlanthe report

Mbalula has written to provincial secretaries and interim coordinators instructing them to implement the Kgalema Motlanthe report.

The Motlanthe election committee probed the manipulation of candidates lists after communities complained.

Luthuli House initially ignored the complaints but the communities insisted the matter be resolved, otherwise, they wouldn’t vote for the ANC next year.

In October 2021, the high court in Mahikeng ruled in favour of Madibeng candidates – Andrew Maluleka, Lawrentia Sekoma, Daniel Chauke and Joseph Moyo – confirming there were irregularities that occurred leading to the submission of lists in wards 13, 18 and 22, where Maluleka, Sekoma and Chauke were to contest.

The court also ordered that proportional representation candidates Moyo and Judy Sefudi, whose names were secretly removed from the top and placed at the bottom of the list, be reinstated in their original positions on the list as determined by the provincial list committee in the first post-election council meeting.

Contempt of court

On 9 December 2021, the court ruled that the ANC was in contempt of court after it failed to implement the initial court order.

Now the applicant had approached the court again to ask for an enforcement order to compel the party to implement the initial order or face a contempt of court charge.

The matter was postponed to August for a hearing in the high court. But Moyo said Mbalula’s letter was vague as it did not state whether disciplinary action would be taken.

He questioned how the ANC would be able to remove all “parachuted” councillors in the 72 wards in North West and hold by-elections and risk losing the wards in future by-elections.

READ: Luthuli House orders investigation into ‘parachuted’ election candidates