Hammanskraal ANC supporters trash regional office
Hammanskraal ANC supporters have threatened to bring down the party's regional structure if their concerns were not taken seriously.
David Matsena
More than 100 angry Hammanskraal ANC members marched to the ANC’s Arcadia offices this week to protest against the party leadership in their area.
They dumped waste bins to demonstrate their anger.
The protesters threatened to bring down the party’s regional branch if they were not taken seriously.
An organiser, who asked not to be named, said they were all members of the Hammanskraal ANC branch.
“We have been raising our concerns with the office. They always promise to respond, but nothing ever happens afterwards,” he said.
He claimed it was an open secret that the party was struggling to deal with factions.
“Certain leaders allowed only a selected number of their supporters to attend meetings.”
The convenors singled out ANC regional chairperson Kgosientso Ramokgopa and ANC Tshwane secretary George Matjila as problematic people.
“They always call meetings with illegitimate members who are in their factions. The rest of us are left out,” he said.
Last week, a group of ANC Women’s League members, also from Hammanskraal, marched outside the ANC Tshwane offices where they bared their bottoms.
They were unhappy with the outcome of a branch general meeting in Hammanskraal.
The protestors accused Matjila, who is also Tshwane MMC for Transport, of bringing bouncers to meetings to intimidate them.
The man said the leaders were causing divisions within the organisation.
“We want unity. There must be regional leaders who care about the needs of the communities. We want this regional leadership disbanded and new elections. Under Sputla’s leadership the region is suffering,” the man said.
Protesters claimed new branches were started in Hammanskraal during December last year, but their details did not appear on the regional databases.
ANC Tshwane spokesperson Teboho Joala condemned the vandalism and said they would investigate the membership status of those involved.
“This act is outside the behavioural pattern of any member of the ANC. A disciplined member of the ANC can’t damage property, or burn t-shirts, or undermine the ANC itself by tarnishing its regional office,” he said.
Joala said there were processes for people to raise grievances and vandalism was not the solution.
“Only the conference that will be held in 2017 can replace the current leadership. It is quite regrettable that people can go to the extent of undermining the organisation they claim to be defending,” Joala said.
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