The Herald was inundated with phone calls from residents of Mohlakeng on 7 March after they were allegedly threatened by ANC members doing a door-to-door membership drive ahead of the elections.
More than 30 residents of Mohlakeng Extention 4 called in to complaint about the treatment they received from ANC members.
The campaign was allegedly held on 6 March in Zwaneloop and Nokwe Streets.
According to one resident, the ANC members, instead of doing the normal party sales pitch, told them that if they do not vote for the ANC, they will lose their houses as it is the ANC who gave them the houses in the first place.
The national elections are scheduled to take place on 7 May.
“They demanded to know which political party we would be voting for in the election,” says the resident who wished not to be named for fear of being victimised.
“I refused to tell them and that is when they started threatening me.
“They said that the ANC fought for our freedom and should we not vote for them, they will make sure our homes are taken away from us.”
The Herald listened to the same story from caller after caller, all of whom refused to divulge their names or even contact details, and all of them stating that they will be victimised if they were to dare report the matter.
The Herald contacted West Rand District Municipality spokesperson and ANC elections representative within the West Rand Dennis Mangope who says that although the ANC wants to score votes, they are certainly not desperate enough to do this.
“People need to be aware that there is no way that we can intimidate them to vote for us.
“Yes we can approach them to persuade them to vote for the ANC but at no point do we have the right to force them.
“Those people who are allegedly doing this should be identified and reported to our offices so that we can take the correct action against them.
“Everyone has a right to keep their vote private unless they want to publicly declare it,” says Mangope.
He adds residents need to rest assured that no one will have their houses taken away from them owing to their preference to vote for a different political party.
“People were given houses as part of service delivery and this was never based on which political party they belong to.
“We can never discriminate against our people in such a way,” says Mangope.
Those who wish to report incidents of this nature are urged to contact the Regional Secretary of the ANC Sanele Ngweventja on 011 692 1856 or approach the West Rand District Municipality or the Randfontein Local Municipality offices.
