ANC slams its Cape leaders

THE ANC in the Western Cape has slammed the leadership of its Cape Town region for failing to choose racially diverse councillors for the City of Cape Town.

Provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs said of the city’s 55 ANC councillors‚ only six were not African. There was not a single white. “We are concerned that our councillors don’t represent the broad constituency and democracy of Cape Town‚” Jacobs said yesterday.

“We must improve [on this] if we want to win support . . . we must ensure we have a non-racial character.”

Cape Town’s population is 45% coloured‚ 43% white and 9% African.

Jacobs was speaking after the party’s provincial leadership had decided to dissolve the leadership structure of the Dullah Omar region (City of Cape Town).

He said the party needed to ensure cooperation among communities‚ and diversity was vital in terms of race, gender and religion.

The region’s disbandment follows divisions sparked when the Dullah Omar leadership failed to install its preferred candidate Songezo Mjongile as provincial secretary two years ago.

These divisions erupted in public on Sunday.

Jacobs said the dissolution followed the party’s poor showing in last August’s local government elections – “perhaps the worst in the history of the ANC in the province”.