ANC registers 10 000 local government candidates with IEC
THE ANC has vowed to discipline all its senior members found to have manipulated their party’s candidates lists for the upcoming local government elections.
Yesterday, the governing party announced that its selection process had resulted in the nomination of close to 10 000 ward and proportional representative candidates, adding their nomination was followed by rigorous screening and interviews by regional leaders as well as by vetting panels and by provincial list committees.
Candidates were then presented to extended provincial executive committees.
Despite complaints of irregularities, the ANC was forced to register their candidates with the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) by 9pm yesterday.
Various ANC members and regions in the country continued to expose alleged acts of manipulation through social media posts while others told Independent Media about their ordeal at the hands of alleged vote-riggers.
Other members continued to write letters to their provincial leaders while others asked influential officials in the ANC to intervene on their behalf.
One such letter was written by members of the ANC’s Makgatho branch in Midvaal, who asked several Gauteng government employees to help them resolve irregularities in the nomination process in ward 8.
A similar request was made to the media.
According to the complainants, the ward has 3 989 eligible voters but only 102 people selected a councillor-elect.
In the Eastern Cape, especially in the OR Tambo region, candidates who allegedly obtained majority votes accused their electoral officers of having overlooked them in favour of those who gained fewer votes.
In some instances, the complainants alleged that the party selected two male candidates in direct contravention of ANC electoral guidelines.
One of the complainants said he obtained majority support in one of the wards in that region but was surprised to learn that his opponent was also selected as a councillor-elect.
Detailing his ordeal, the complainant, whose name is withheld for security reasons, said: “Surprisingly, when I visited OR Tambo Region for submission of certified ID copies, a police affidavit and IEC acceptance form, the comrade I defeated also submitted but the guidelines are clear that if number one is a male, number two should be a female.”
Yesterday, the ANC acknowledged that more males were selected in their community meetings but said they had to ensure that they placed women candidates on their proportional representation list to reach an equitable gender balance.
Admitting to skewed gender representation, ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe indicated that despite the stringent requirement of gender equity, the persistence of patriarchal attitudes meant that the majority of ward councillors nominated were male. “To adjust for this, more ANC women candidates form part of our proportional representation list,” Mabe said.