‘Stepchildren’ unhappy with ANC poll list
Uitenhage members claim town sidelined
TENSIONS are brewing in Uitenhage over the ANC’s election list process, with party members complaining that the town was sidelined as only a handful of candidates from the area made it onto the PR list.
This follows years of complaints from Uitenhage and Despatch residents that the towns were the “stepchildren” of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and that they were not on the metro’s development agenda.
Mayor Danny Jordaan and his team have been at pains in recent months to shift focus onto developing the towns, but the ANC’s PR councillor candidate list has created unease among some who feel the town is not well-represented.
Only Rosie Vrolik from Despatch is in the top 10 of the PR list.
From Uitenhage, deputy mayor Bicks Ndoni is placed at No 11, Mazwi Mini at No 17 and Feziwe Sibeko at No 26. Andiswa Mama, from Despatch, is placed at No 16.
ANC Eastern Cape secretary Oscar Mabuyane said the party considered up to number 35 on the PR list as a “safe zone” – people likely to make it into the council.
Only two of the seven current ANC ward councillors in Uitenhage are likely to return after the polls.
They are Nomsa Booi (Ward 44) and Lindelwa Qukubana (Ward 46).
Three ANC branch members from Uitenhage, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said people were not happy about Uitenhage’s representation.
One said: “After the formation of the metro in 2000, there were always at least five councillors from Uitenhage on the mayoral committee.
“After the 2011 elections, there were only two people on the mayoral committee.”
Since June last year, three mayoral committee members have been from Uitenhage and Despatch. They are Ndoni, Sibeko and Mama.
“People are not happy. These lists further the perception that Uitenhage is sidelined, that it’s the stepchild,” the member said.
“There were people who were voted for overwhelmingly at the regional list conference, but at the province that list was changed and now those names are at the bottom.”
Another member said the regional list conference had to be used as a reflection of what people wanted.
“People like Simphiwe Madlavu, who was one of those who received the most votes, were deliberately not included in the final list.
“He should be in the top 10 – he represents the youth and the geographical spread and he’s popular.
“There is a serious political agenda and they are finding ways to deal with those who were openly critical of the previous regional structure.
“In Ward 44 (KwaNobuhle), the number-one candidate who won at the [branch general meeting] was recommended to the province and then suddenly out of nowhere Nomsa Booi was made the candidate.
“A delegation went to Calata House [in King William’s Town] and the ANC set up a process to rectify the problem.”
A third member said he hoped Uitenhage and Despatch would be fairly represented on the mayoral committee after the elections.
“For now, we are focusing on ensuring that the ANC wins the elections and then we hope the leadership will deal with these problems.”
Mabuyane wanted to know who was unhappy, so that the party could respond to their concerns.
“It is blatant mischief from whoever is peddling this wrong information,” he said.
“The province processed all the regional recommendations without any tampering.
“The Nelson Mandela Bay metro was treated as a special case as provided in the ANC guidelines.
“Surely, if there is substance to the geographical-spread claim, it will be looked at post-August 3. But I can tell you that there are people from Uitenhage.
“The only area we battled with was Despatch in balancing the list.”
He said there were nationalists in the party who believed their activism should be pessimistic and that they should discredit the provincial leadership.
“We don’t need all these destructive tendencies,” he said.
“We need a united, coherent and focused ANC.
“We will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that all genuine and fundamental concerns are dealt with procedurally and organisationally.”