Worried ANC in new drive to keep metros
Sacking incompetent councillors and posting selfies are among the strategies to attract voters
SOCCER boss Danny Jordaan’s appointment as mayor in Nelson Mandela Bay is but the first in a series of sweeping changes the ANC plans to introduce ahead of next year’s local government elections.
Spooked by the growth of the opposition in some of its traditional constituencies, as well as rising unhappiness with its performance among its own members, the ANC will embark on drastic measures — including the axing of incompetent councillors.
A recent internal party survey found that dissatisfaction with the ANC’s performance at local government level has increased even in its own ranks.
This prompted Luthuli House to act, because the opposition plans to give the ANC a run for its money in the metro that includes Port Elizabeth, and other “vulnerable” councils.
At the ANC’s national executive committee meeting two weeks ago, several measures were presented to ensure that the party retains its majority in municipalities under its control. These include:
Changing voters’ perception of the party by removing incompetent councillors and corrupt appointees;
Getting councillors to write “dear voter” letters to their constituencies in which they state promises for the new term;
Ensuring that municipalities respond to complaints within three days;
Bombarding social media with selfies of party politicians to win over young voters; and
Stopping party leaders from attacking each other in public as this plays into the hands of the party’s rivals.
In the clearest indication yet that the ANC is worried about Julius Malema’s EFF, it warns members not to “underestimate the impact of EFF entering local [government] space on issues that matter and provoke conflict with the state”.
Since the national executive committee meeting, Luthuli House has been busy removing bad performers in some municipalities under its control.
Its first action was Jordaan’s appointment in Nelson Mandela Bay, the municipality singled out by the DA as its main target in next year’s elections.
Although ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe confirmed that the party was trying to win back voters’ trust by fielding credible candidates, he denied that Jordaan’s appointment was driven by fear.
“Danny Jordaan is a member of the ANC. He was an MP. How can he be an invention for a particular strategy? He was in the first group of ANC MPs.”
This week, the party was active in the Buffalo City municipality, which includes East London, trying to sort out differences between party leaders. The metro is at the centre of a scandal involving millions of rands that were squandered on arrangements for Nelson Mandela’s funeral in 2013.
The ANC has also confirmed the suspension of five councillors in the Inkwanca municipality in the Transkei. The councillors had refused to implement the recommendations of a forensic report that had unearthed massive corruption.
ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said the party’s renewed focus on municipalities was aimed at fixing those that were not functioning properly, and had nothing to do with the opposition.
“All we want to do is build an efficient government sphere that delivers services to the people. We spoke about deploying competent cadres.
“We have in the past dissolved ANC-led municipalities where there is political instability, infighting or mismanagement and we will continue to do that . . .” said Kodwa. He insisted that the ANC would retain all metros it controlled, despite the opposition saying Nelson Mandela Bay and the City of Tshwane were up for grabs.
But in its internal document, the party is clearly worried about the opposition. “Show what we are doing, have done and will be doing in each ward — stick to what is important, do not let opposition dictate the agenda,” the document reads.
In what can be seen as a reference to some of its leaders who have responded to the EFF threat by mimicking Malema’s public militancy, the ANC warns: “Stick to our principles . . . Populism is a very shortterm strategy.”
The ANC warns: ’Stick to our principles . . . Populism is a very short-term strategy’