‘Rogue leaders’ have no place in ANC, say party members in Limpopo

Limpopo ANC headquarters at Frans Mohlala House at Biccard Street in Polokwane came to a standstill on Wednesday after party members picketed outside the building, calling for a candidate list of proportional representatives (PR) and ward councillors, submitted to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) to be nullified.

The members, mostly from Ephraim Mogale, Elias Motsoaledi, Makhudu Thamaga and Fetakgomo/Tubatsi in the Sekhukhune region, gathered from the wee hours of the morning in front of the building, where they sang and danced revolutionary slogans against what they called “rogue leaders who have no place in the ANC”.

They claimed the submitted candidate list contained names of ANC members and leaders who were entangled into a fiasco surrounding the VBS Mutual Bank.

The group also accused ANC leaders of doctoring the list in favour of their own pals.

“According to ANC policy on the nomination process, ward and PR councillor candidates must first be nominated at branch general meetings and proceed to community meetings where they would be interviewed. But that was not followed in Sekhukhune,” said a disgruntled resident, Fannie Matlala, yesterday.

Another resident, Matome Letsoalo, who is also the spokesperson for the discontented group, said some of those who made the list were known community members entangled in the VBS saga.

He said the latter could not lead the people because they had a questionable reputation.

“They were not nominated by us and they must be removed immediately because they have a tainted reputation,” said Letsoalo.

According to information, the ANC in Limpopo has more than 90 disputes from different communities and branches throughout the province’s five regions.

The plight by Sekhukhune ANC members comes at the sidelines of a court battle between the ANC and the IEC over a plea to extend the submission of the candidate list.

On Tuesday, acting ANC secretary-general Jessie Duarte told the electoral court that the party’s incomplete candidate list ahead of the local government elections had affected 93 of the 257 municipalities across the country.

Duarte asked the court to extend the election dates in the interest of free and fair elections.

ANC provincial spokesperson Donald Selamolela said it was right for everyone to voice their dissatisfactions whenever they don’t agree with certain processes of the party.

“But that has to be done through the right channels, because picketing or marching would not give them the desired results,” said Selamolela.

“I would like to advise our people to use our dispute resolution committee to voice their dissent, rather than to demonstrate their anger through pickets and protest marches.”

He said their plight was been attended to.