Investigation: North West ANC councillors face music

A large number of “parachuted” ANC councillors have been summoned to appear before the party’s national investigative team to answer for their election without being nominated by communities.

The councillors face imminent recall from their council seats should they be found to have been illegal or their names put on the council candidates’ lists.

Some of the councillors include lawyers, engineers, political activists and youth who abandoned their jobs to be deployed in municipalities.

‘Surprised’

Some of them were said to have been surprised by their candidacy because they did not submit their names or signed forms to accept nominations – but their high evel political connections made that possible.

The list process was allegedly manipulated so as to sneak in these politically connected candidates.

ANC’s national investigative team chaired by Dina Pule, has been tasked to probe the councillors who got on the party lists without being nominated by communities towards the 2021 local government election.

Briefing

The team is expected to first get an hour-long briefing on the situation during its meeting with ANC provincial executive committee (PEC) today, followed by meetings with members of the former interim provincial committee and the interim regional committees of Bojanala, Ngaka Modiri Molema, Dr KK Kaunda and Dr Ruth Segomotso Mompati regions.

Madibeng local municipality is not named among those to testify at the ANC hearings because its matter has already been decided by a court – that the legitimate councillors be reinstated.

The investigative team is expected to give a report on its findings at the ANC national executive committee meeting on 21 and 22 June.

Kgalema Motlanthe Electoral Committee report

The committee was asked to investigate as part of implementing the Kgalema Motlanthe Electoral Committee report which initially probed irregularities that occurred before and during the 2021 election. At least 76 councillors that were “parachuted”, a term used to describe certain candidates that were sneaked into the ANC lists during the polls, have been earmarked to be removed from different municipal council in the North West.

The names of the “illegal” councillors were put in places of candidates that were democratically nominated by residents during nominations for the November elections.

The communities demanded the councillors be removed, otherwise they would not vote for the ANC in the 2024 national elections.

But some were complaining about the appointment of a new investigative team when the recommendations of first team appointed by Luthuli House and chaired by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma were yet to be implemented.

NOW READ: ANC North West: Council speaker fired, 14 councilors instructed to resign

Parachuted councillors

The Dlamini-Zuma team also found instances of “parachuted” councillors as far as 2011 and some of them again featured in the 2021 irregularities, but no action was taken.

“As a province, we have gone full circle, those implicated in Dlamini-Zuma [investigation] are still found in Motlanthe commission. Those ministers, MECs and mayors are second-time offenders with no consequence management from the NEC,” a member said.

“We don’t have hope that the ANC will implement the Motlanthe report. They failed with the Dlamini-Zuma report due to their narrow political selfishness.”

ALSO READ: ANC terminates membership of 8 Mangaung councillors who voted with DA

– ericn@citizen.co.za