The EFF claims the ANC used a municipal building for its NEC meeting because it could not afford another venue.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the party used the Germiston Civic Centre for its national executive committee (NEC) meeting because of “security” reasons.
This comes after the EFF in Gauteng accused the party of “hijacking” the council building for its meeting.
“The fact that we changed a venue from this direction to that has nothing to do with money, it was security considerations.
“Security concerns are not communicated to the public but we realise that this venue matter has been blown out of proportion,” he said.
Mbalula said this is not the first time that the ANC has used council chambers for their meetings.
“This is not the first time that we utilise council chambers, here in Johannesburg we have met in the council chambers many times,” he said.
Mbalula said the ANC would pay for some of these goverment buildings where they host meetings.
“If we are required to pay, we pay, which is what has happened even now,” he said.
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Councillors couldn’t use building during ANC meeting
Mbalula’s explanation comes after the ANC concluded its four-day NEC meeting at the Germiston Civic Centre on Monday.
EFF chairperson in Gauteng, Nkululeko Dunga, complained that their public representatives and councillors were unable to access the Germiston Civic Centre during the ANC meeting.
“As a result of this meeting, the EFF caucus in the city was compelled to postpone its induction programme because the ANC locked down the Civic Centre, deploying state resources and police to create an exclusive zone to save the fast-decaying former liberation movement from public embarrassment.
“These actions by the ANC are not only disgraceful, they also play a role in compromising service delivery to the people of Ekurhuleni,” he said.
ANC accused of abusing municipal resources
Dunga accused the ANC of abusing municipal resources for their benefit.
“This brazen abuse of municipal infrastructure illustrates the ANC’s tendency to blur the lines between the state and the party and to treat public property as its private quarters,” he said.
Dunga said the ANC should have used an alternative venue for its meeting.
“It is an insult to the people of Gauteng and Ekurhuleni in particular, that the ANC, embroiled in bankruptcy and unable to fund its own events, now exploits public facilities to conduct internal meetings, even at the expense of ordinary council operations,” he said.
Was the venue booked properly?
The EFF demanded an explanation from the Ekurhuleni council concerning the matter.
“The institutions entrusted with the custodianship of council and its properties must give a detailed explanation of this situation, including the possible flouting of the booking policies.
“Because this ANC NEC meeting was moved from one venue to another, with the civic centre utilised in the last minute, the EFF strongly believes that necessary venue booking policies were not followed,” he said.
The municipality’s spokesperson, Zweli Dlamini, told The Citizen the legislature is responsible for the building that was used for the ANC meeting and referred queries to them.
The speaker of Council in charge of the legislature belongs to the EFF.
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