By Thabo Monyela
TZANEEN- The disgruntled members of the African National Congress (ANC), from various municipalities in Mopani District, stormed the temporarily closed Norman Mashabane regional headquarters in Tzaneen on Tuesday, 30 August 2021, to demand the reinstatement of their candidates on the party’s list which was allegedly marred with irregularities by the regional top leadership.
According to the protesters, the regional top leadership manipulated the candidate’s list in favour of their candidates.
The candidates’ fallouts threaten the party’s governance legacy as these aggrieved marchers vehemently told Tzaneen Voice that should the party fail to address their concerns, they will either vote for other political parties candidates or boycott the elections.
“Come elections, we will rather vote for EFF or stop elections in our wards than to vote for a councillor candidate that was imposed on us” some members were heard saying.
Talking to Tzaneen Voice, the party’s regional spokesperson Peter Ngobeni said the march was factional and coordinated by some leaders of the ANC who mobilise innocent and unsuspecting members of the organisation for their own selfish and self-centred interest.
The party spokesperson further stated that the protest was baseless as the party had already referred all formal 49 disputes and other individual complaints to the Provincial List Committee (PLC).
“We call on restraint and patience to the members as the organisation is internally dealing with all formal disputes and I can categorically state that the REC has no reason to temper with the candidate’s list,” Ngobeni said.
The Norman Mashabane region had failed to heal itself from the internal factions that emanated towards the 8th elective Karibu conference that was held a few months ago.
The ANC in Mopani also finds itself in a state of political paralysis after it managed to only register 66 wards out of 115 towards the upcoming local government elections. #Tzaneenvoice
