2005+11-07,+Left+packs+ANC+nomination+lists

= Left packs ANC nomination lists =

MOIPONE MALEFANE and NDIVHUHO MAFELA

Sunday Times, Johannesburg, 06 November 2005

THE current crop of ANC councillors is being sidelined in the nomination list process being undertaken by branches and replaced by what seems to be Cosatu and SA Communist Party-aligned candidates.

The move by the better organised Cosatu and SACP branches is driven by the ideological differences that the two alliance partners have had with ANC-controlled municipalities over the privatisation of services such as water, among others.

It is a well-known fact, acknowledged by ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe at the recent national general council, that ANC branches are weak.

The left-leaning alliance partners are using the coming local government elections to challenge the ANC hegemony over policy and its centralisation of power.

The move can also be linked directly to the crisis in the ANC over the sacking of former Deputy President Jacob Zuma amid allegations of corruption. The SACP and Cosatu are vehemently opposed to Zuma’s dismissal.

The alliance partners are hard at work, ensuring their members are nominated in the ANC local government election list.

It has been reported that Johannesburg Mayor Amos Masondo and his entire mayoral committee did not make it on to the nomination list from branches.

The same is true for Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Council executive Mayor Nceba Faku and his executive.

Notable on the list are the names of SACP and Cosatu leaders, including Thobile Ntola, Irvin Jim, Mzoleli Mrara and Zanoxolo Wayile.

The nomination process is still at branch level and the names will be sent to ANC regions and provincial executive committees before going to ANC headquarters at Luthuli House for final ratification.

It is at these latter three levels that the party will use its powers to reinstate or drop names from the list in line with its national guidelines.

These include the principle of nominating 50% of women into local government, continuity and taking care of age spread.

Cosatu spokesman Paul Notyawa said the union federation’s members had been nominated during the list process, but that this was done under the banner of the ANC.

“We encourage our members to participate in this process. Even our central executive committee meeting in August reiterated the need for Cosatu members to play an active role in local government elections,” he said.

SACP spokesman Kaizer Mohau said the party had issued orders for members to participate and ensure that local government was “a true embodiment” of the alliance.

“Our members are represented well on the list. This will ensure that the alliance functions properly as all partners will be represented [fairly] and will have a voice,” he said.

This is seen as a direct challenge to President Thabo Mbeki’s perceived centralisation of power within the ANC.

Writing on the SACP website this week, general secretary Blade Nzimande said the lack of adequate democratic checks and balances led to people within the ruling party dispensing patronage.

He emphasised the importance of implementing the guidelines that emanated from the National General Council that the “powers of prerogative to appoint or dismiss given to various roles in the state should be heavily balanced by effective democratic consultation with the organisations, not to be treated as an absolute state-based right”.

ANC spokesman Smuts Ngonyama said nominees were all members of the ANC and had a right to stand for political office.

However, it has emerged that the ANC’s 50% gender quota for the municipal polls — scheduled to take place any time between December 2005 and March 2006 — has not been well received by some members who say it might compromise merit.

“It will delay service delivery and compromise merit and skills,” said a regional officebearer in Limpopo.

From: http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/articles/article.aspx?ID=ST6A150862