2005-11-11,+Gun-firing+ANC+politico+disciplined,+apologises,+B+Day

Business Day, Johannesburg, 10 November 2005

= Western Cape ANC disciplines gun-firing rebel =

Chris van Gass, Cape Correspondent

CAPE TOWN — The Western Cape African National Congress (ANC) has concluded its first disciplinary action against disruptive members in the province by suspending a member for emptying his gun in the air during a fracas in Khayelitsha in September.

ANC provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha said yesterday the ANC provincial executive had accepted an apology from Douglas Ndawonde, a former branch chairman who admitted during a disciplinary hearing to firing five shots into the air and disrupting an ANC meeting in Khayelitsha on September 25.

Ndawonde apologised “unreservedly” to the ANC.

Skwatsha said the ANC would not lay criminal charges against Ndawonde as the party was not bent on “destroying people’s lives but to rehabilitate those who show remorse”, He also said that disciplinary steps were continuing against four others for the same incident, as well as against five other members involved in an incident in Khayelitsha on Sunday, when a group disrupted the ANC’s provincial general council meeting.

Cape Town city police were called in to remove them, and police used pepper spray to disperse about 100 people.

Skwatsha said the ANC stood by its decision to call in the city police on Sunday.

Discontent has simmered since Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool was ousted as provincial ANC chairman by James Ngculu earlier this year, with the backing of Rasool’s rival, Skwatsha.

Internal strife among the party in the province is a growing problem that has drawn criticism from the ANC’s South African Communist Party (SACP) provincial alliance partner, stoking tensions in Western Cape further.

SACP provincial secretary Khaya Magaxa said the ANC leadership was being torn apart in internal battles by people “with personal objectives who were greedy and power-hungry”. He also accused the ANC leadership of using the police to harass their political opponents.

“The SACP in Western Cape rejects and condemns in the strongest possible terms the use of state organs such as the city police to resolve internal political problems within our organisation,” said Magaxa.

Ngculu said in response that the protesters, who were protesting without permission, had damaged his car and threatened municipal property.

Skwatsha said Magaxa’s comments were “ill informed” and that the ANC executive would be meeting with its alliance partners.

He said the ANC would be completing its provisional candidates lists for the local government elections by the end of this month.

Skwatsha said the candidates for 11 of the 12 wards in Khayelitsha had been completed, and that by the end of this month the process would have been concluded for the whole province. With Sapa

From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/national.aspx?ID=BD4A111152

Cape Times, 10 November

= Alliance partners under fire from ANC =

By A'eysha Kassiem

In two separate criticisms of their alliance partners, the provincial African National Congress leadership has hit out at both the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Cosatu's provincial secretary, Tony Ehrenreich.

At a media briefing on Wednesday, where ANC provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha announced the suspended expulsion of one member, Douglas Ndawonde, for wielding and firing a firearm at a meeting in September, he referred to comments made by the SACP about Sunday's protest outside the Gugulethu Sports Complex as "ill-informed".

The SACP criticised the ANC provincial leadership after the ANC provincial general council meeting on Sunday where protesters were detained and pepper-sprayed by city police.

Meanwhile, in a letter to the Cape Times, ANC chairman James Ngculu lashed out at Ehrenreich, saying he should "keep quiet about issues he knew nothing about".

The SACP and Cosatu have since joined hands in saying that the "rift" in their alliance relationship with the ruling party is because the provincial leadership has failed to meet with them since the leaders were elected in June.

The SACP says they are presently engaging with the ANC national executive.

Political analysts have also attributed the apparent breakdown in communication to a lack of interaction. The ANC was criticised after city police chief Bongani Jonas said he deployed the city police after he was notified of the unrest by ANC councillors and other "national figures".

He said the city police had been called in because the demonstrators were part of an illegal gathering and threatened to damage council property.

Both the SACP and Cosatu have condemned the ANC for using state agencies in a "political matter", with the SACP saying it was "flummoxed and dismayed" at the provincial leadership's handling of internal political problems.

Said Skwatsha: "The SACP has been an ally of the ANC for a very long time and the particular way they chose to deal with the problem has been unfortunate ... They are not well-versed on the matter."

He said the ANC stood by its decision to call the city police to protect council property.

But the SACP provincial secretary Khaya Magaxa said on Wednesday the reason they had not followed the internal ANC procedures in expressing their dismay was because they had not had a coalition meeting with the new provincial leadership.

"That is where the problem lies because the meeting is where we are supposed to come together and discuss our issues, but instead we are simply seeing the crisis deepen. All of our members are ANC members and we have a responsibility to tell them what's wrong."

Ehrenreich agreed, calling on the ANC to exercise "mature leadership".

But in his letter, Ngculu says there is "no conspiracy as Ehrenreich alleges".

"In future, (he) should keep quiet about issues he knows nothing about, or consult with his alliance partners before attacking them in public."

Asked when last the coalition alliance had met, he said they had been facing a lot of "challenges".

The African Christian Democratic Party said on Wednesday: "The ANC's continued internal squabbles are destabilising the province."

From: http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=269&fArticleId=2988807