ANC’s North West provincial executive committee resolved to visit all areas where there have been disputes on the nomination of councillor candidates.

Party provincial secretary, Dakota Legoete said that there was need to resolve the issues so as to go into the August 3 local government elections united.

“The ANC would also like to put on record that contrary to some misleading information being spread in the media, there are no more than 20 complaints received out of a total of 407 wards in the province. The PEC noted the grievances expressed.

“After thorough discussion, we decided to address the challenges led to the unhappiness of our members. We have reached an agreement with them. The PEC will as soon as possible convene community meetings where such complaints will be raised. This will happen in the presence of the alleged community favourite candidates and the candidate registered with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on behalf of the ANC,” he said.

Dakota said that those found to have been selected against the wishes of the people will have to resign.

“If the registered candidates are not the favourites, they will be requested to sign a resignation letter which commits to leave the position. We will then submit the signed letter to the IEC on August 4, a day after elections,” he said.

He added that the law states that by-election should be held within 90 days after a municipal ward council seat becomes vacant. Action will also be taken against those who presided over the community meeting that selected the disputed candidate.

“The ANC in Bokone Bophirima is committed to the party’s National Executive Committee decision to involve community members in the process to select their own councillor candidate. As long as the chosen person meets the criteria set by the ANC.

“What we are doing is adhering to and expanding on the recommendations of the report by ANC NEC member Comrade Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma after an investigation into the 2011 local government elections irregularities. We as the ANC in Bokone Bophirima also want to restore the confidence of the people of our province in the ANC,” he said.

Legoete promised that party leaders will ensure that the communities are part of decision-making because they will be served by the selected councillors.

-TDN

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