Scores of disgruntled ANC members again protested outside the party’s headquarters, Luthuli House, in Johannesburg yesterday to voice their dissatisfaction over the party’s list of councillor candidates for the upcoming local government elections.
About 200 protesters were unhappy with the party’s procedure in selecting candidates who would stand as councillors in the August 3 polls.
Secretary General of the ANC, Gwede Mantashe, addressed the media on the ANC’s progress inside Luthuli House while the protest went on outside.
Mantashe told reporters: “We want to assure South African people that all the names are being submitted. We are only left with Ekurhuleni and Western Cape Province.”
Mantashe said the ANC would not tamper with the make-up of the list because popular people in the ward should remain at the top.
And if there was evidence that the list had been tampered with, the party would try to fix the problem.
Mantashe said unfortunately the ANC could not address any appeals at the moment, but that he would personally visit Matatiele in the Eastern Cape today because there were several wards with complaints.
ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said some of the anger was partly due to corrections the party had to make.
“In terms of our guidelines, you cannot tamper with issues of adherence and gender,” Kodwa said.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance yesterday released its mayoral candidates’ list for the local elections.
The DA said it was confident of retaining the municipalities it controls in Western Cape, with Patricia de Lille expected to stay on as Cape Town mayor.