ANC to meet over remarks by councillor

THE ANC regional executive committee (REC) in the Dullah Omar region has vowed to crack the whip on members bringing the party into disrepute after a video clip circulated of councillor Khaya Yozi calling some leaders wheelbarrows.

ANC Dullah Omar region secretary Vuyiso Thyalisisu said a special REC meeting was held on Tuesday following utterances by some party members in public forums regarding leadership in the region, as well as councillors deployed in the City. Thyalisisu said the comments made had cast aspersions on the previous regional conference, which was ruled as legitimate by the Western Cape High Court.

This comes after Yozi addressed the party's youth members at a Khayelitsha Heritage Council event last Saturday.

In a clip, Yozi is heard saying: “The ANC in the Dullah Omar has turned into a cult, a thing of individuals and groups of friends. Our public representatives are getting drunk, get arrested and we blame the opposition. There is no sense of consciousness. Public representatives are supposed to give reports to our communities and they are not – because they are buying support from leadership, paying regional leadership R2 500 on a monthly basis.''

Yozi also criticised ANC leaders on efforts to deal with land occupations during the lockdown last year.

“Where was the leadership of the ANC to clarify to those people that need spaces to live and tell them not to take those spaces because we are going to build houses for you?

“This is because leaderships that elected us in Atlantis are what you call wheelbarrows, they are waiting for us to tell them to move here and move here. In the absence of us pushing them in a direction, they can't lead their own individual ward struggles. So we shift the blame to EFF,” said Yozi.

According to Thyalisisu, the REC meeting resolutions included that members identified to be bringing the party into disrepute be charged with contravening the ANC constitution and referred to the disciplinary committee.

“They will also be suspended pending the outcomes of the disciplinary committee. The ANC regional secretary will write to the office of the ANC secretary-general to clarify our collective stance on comments that are in the public space which may incorrectly be accredited to the ANC REC,” Thyalisisu said.