Durban — The ANC in Newcastle Local Municipality has blamed its selection criteria of councillors for the resignation of four ward councillors.
ANC spokesperson in Emalahleni region, Sikhumbuzo Shabangu, confirmed the resignation of the four to the Daily News on Monday.
He said the party was concerned about the resignation since there was no valid reason, citing the party’s selection criteria which involved community members.
Shabangu said the involvement of community members who are not ANC members mean that a non-member of the ANC can be selected and that person may not be passionate to deliver services to people but wanted a job as a councillor.
Shabangu said the ANC was “too democratic” and that sometimes results in problems such as where a community may select a person who may not have the qualities to be councillor but just because the candidate was popular among the community, the ANC could not say no.
“We are concerned and suspect the communities of the wards may have chosen the wrong person who had no interest in serving the communities but their self interest.
“Although they were all ANC members, if the party had its own hand maybe it could have not chosen these ones,” said Shabangu.
In choosing a candidate for the ANC, the ward branch meets and selects three people who are then taken to the community to vote for one candidate. Shabangu said this process strips the ANC of the power of choosing a candidate.
In the 2021 local government elections, the ANC lost the municipality to a coalition government which led by the IFP, assisted by parties like the DA, ActionSA, FF-Plus, ATM and the PA.
On the other hand, the NFP and EFF are the only two parties that work with the ANC.
In the 67-seat council, the ANC won 22 seats, followed by the IFP with 18, while EFF got eight. The fourth largest party was newcomers, Team Sugar SA, with seven seats. The DA got four while ActionSA got three seats. The NFP, ATM, FF -Plus and PA got one each.
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