Photographer: Dwayne Sr./Bloomberg via Getty Images
ANC leaders in the Bojanala region have accused the party's national chairman Gwede Mantashe and the North West Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) of interfering in the parliamentary candidate selection process, resulting in the constituency's seat being lost to the Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.
They say Mantashe and the provincial committee ignored warnings from local leaders about fielding candidates who did not have the support of voters.
Wednesday's by-elections saw MK win its first constituency outside KwaZulu-Natal, winning 43% of the vote in Potsane in Rustenburg, a constituency previously held by the ANC but left vacant after the death of a councillor. The ANC won 33% of the vote, a significant drop from 44% in the 2021 local elections.
An anonymous source in the Bojanala region said the defeat was embarrassing for the ANC and they feared similar defeats would happen in other regions too..
Some in the party's provincial branch have blamed Rustenburg Mayor Sheila Mabale Huma for the district's defeat, while others have defended her, saying the blame lies squarely with Mantashe and the PEC.
According to one source, the ANC's process for selecting candidates for by-elections and provincial elections begins with a branch general meeting where party members nominate four candidates, followed by community meetings to answer questions from residents.
The next step will be a community vote to select one candidate to present to the South African Electoral Commission (IEC).
Sources said branch leadership expressed concern that the constituency's candidates did not live in Karen State and were Xhosa speakers.
“What happened in ward 45 is there are three constituencies there – Potsane, Thekwane and Karen. Karen is home to Xhosa people and from what we saw at the community meetings, they brought people from other places,” they said.
“They have written to the regional executive committee, objecting to being included in the process. [which] Submitted to PEC [which] They dismissed the argument without even considering it. The Xhosa men called Comrade Gwede Mantashe and Comrade Madoda Sambata and said, “The Tswana are promoting tribalism and they don't want us.”
“The ANC suffered losses in that constituency because of the interference of Gwede, Madoda Sambatha and the PEC because when the controversy arose they said they would choose the preferred candidate without even considering the truth of the controversy. We said that candidate had not been properly dealt with because he had been voted for by people in other constituencies.”
North West ANC secretary-general Louis Dilemelo denied the allegations, saying Mantashe was not involved in the selection of candidates. “Voters from areas outside ward 45 and those whose addresses could not be verified by the IEC were disqualified. The issue of voting along tribal lines was discouraged.”
He said the ANC's electoral commission wanted an urgent post-mortem of the results in the four constituencies where the party contested.
Mantashe himself has denied the allegations, telling the M&G: “This is not a story. It's a false story and it doesn't exist.”
Sources said not prioritising service delivery has hurt the party in the state.
During a visit to the Ngaka Modili Molema region in the north-west in May last year, President Cyril Ramaphosa warned ANC branches that the party would lose the 2024 elections if factionalism and infighting continued.
“If we go into 2024 with this disunity that I see here, I can assure you that we will not be successful. If we want to lose the election, we have no choice but to continue with this disunity that I see here,” he said.
“We can't solve our problems as long as you are divided. You are all part of the same family, but you are moving in different directions.”
This article was first published on August 30 and has been updated with comments from Gwede Mantashe..
