Ruling party faces challenge from within
Several ‘disgruntled’ party members to contest elections as independent candidates
A number of municipal wards in Buffalo City Metro will see independent candidates competing with others from various established political parties during the upcoming November 1 local government elections.
Even though the provincial IEC spokesperson Julie Stanworth on Thursday said all the candidates lists would be officially made public on September 29, it is understood that among those standing as independent candidates are former ANC activists and councillors in the current dispensation, who are said to be disgruntled after they did not make the cut in their party’s candidate list.
The Dispatch understands that ANC councillors in BCM, including the controversial ward 20 councillor Ntombizodwa Gamnca, the ANC PR councillor at ward 20, Mkhuseli Gidla Nombewu, and ousted controversial ward 25 ANC councillor, Mthetheleli Crosby Kolela, are among those who opted to desert the ruling party and independently contest the November 1 elections.
While briefing the media on the ANC’S election campaign on Thursday, ANC provincial elections co-ordinator Mziwonke Ndabeni said the party was not going to discuss the issue of former ANC lobbyists and outgoing councillors standing as independents.
According to Ndabeni, most of these councillors and ANC activists, were “disgruntled and aggrieved”, hence they decided to stand against the ANC in the upcoming polls.
“We won’t discuss specifics through the media, except to say we have identified that in Buffalo City Metro there are a number of independent candidates that have been registered.
“That also emanated from nomination processes. Some are aggrieved, unhappy and are standing on their own to exercise their constitutional right,” Ndabeni said.
“Hence I am saying we are not going to discuss specifics in the media.
“All those processes, including what has been raised in the media, will be part of an investigation, after which a comprehensive report that details what happened in each and every ward, will be presented.
“All decisions will be taken based on the facts presented, based on merits of case by case.
“That process applies everywhere in the province. For now, we are contesting all the wards of the Eastern Cape, all 710 of them have candidates for the ANC.
“We are prepared for the November 1 elections.”
When the Dispatch contacted Gamnca on Thursday, she was surprised that the Dispatch knew that she would be standing as an independent candidate.
“Where did you hear about that?” she asked, before adding that: “I am not ready to speak about that yet, please call me next week.”
Numerous calls were made to Kolela, and when he eventually answered his cellphone, he said was stuck in a meeting and that the reporter should call him later.
He, however, could not be reached at the time of writing, while Nombewu’s phone rang unanswered for most of Thursday.
In April, the Hawks arrested Kolela, and businesswoman Noxolo Maureen Tshaka, in connection with alleged charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to a R1.2m BCM sponsorship for an event in his ward.
Kolela and Tshaka appeared in the East London magistrate’s court where they were granted R3,000 bail each.
Gamnca was fired from the BCM council in January after she was found guilty of contravening the councillors’ code of conduct.
Her tenure as ward 20 councillor was marked by one controversy after another until she was suspended by the ANC for four years after she was fined R10,000 by an East London court for robbery and intimidation of fellow ANC councillor Nombewu.
She was also accused of being involved in some dodgy house sales in her ward in Mdantsane.
Earlier this year, by-elections in her ward were halted by the IEC after Gamnca had successfully challenged her removal in court.