A little less than two weeks after the August 3 elections residents of Makana Municipality remain in the dark about who the ANC wants to be their mayor, but it would appear that the branches have already made up their minds.
A little less than two weeks after the August 3 elections residents of Makana Municipality remain in the dark about who the ANC wants to be their mayor, but it would appear that the branches have already made up their minds.
The ANC which won the elections with a convincing 62 percent in Makana seems intent on playing its cards close to the chest. Four names had come up prior the elections. Those were Nomhle Gaga, Mabhuti Matyumza, Likhaya Ngqezana and Nombulelo Masoma.
However this picture seems to have changed after the elections. Ngqezana, who is number eight on the party's PR list seems to have fallen out of the race due to the fact that the ANC has been allocated less than eight PR seats.
Matyumza, who is ANC sub-regional chairperson, has confirmed that he has been approached by ANC branches and senior party members about the position. Speaking to Grocott’s Mail yesterday Matyumza confirmed that he had been approached by the branches and he didn’t have a problem with their proposal.
“There have been branches that have approached me and a lot of senior people who have approached me and I can never undermine the role of the people,” he said.
Local ANC branch members who spoke to Grocott’s Mail on condition of anonymity were adamant that they wanted Matyumza to be mayor in Makana. They said the 14 branches in Makana were clear that they want Matyumza to get the position and they had been lobbying for that.
The party members say the positive changes in the municipality cannot be attributed to individuals.
“What brought stability to Makana was a united political leadership of the ANC, which translated into a united Council.”
They further raised the fact that the ANC’s 52nd conference in Mangaung resolved that there should there should not be two centres of power within the organisation.
“If you look at what’s happening nationally, you have a president of the ANC who is the president of the state as well. In the province you have Phumulo Masualle who is the premier of the province and the party’s provincial chairperson. The same should apply here in Makana,” they said.
Speaking to Grocott’s Mail yesterday Gaga stuck to her guns saying everything was in the party’s hands: “The policy of the ANC is clear and I stick to what I said before. The policy of the ANC doesn’t change, it remains the same.
Don’t rush the ANC, in it’s own time it will tell you, because it has it’s processes. I have done my part and my term has ended. It started and ended,” she said.
Masoma said the organisation would speak at the end of all the speculation. She said the people and the branches of the ANC’s voices must be heard.
“The organisation must speak as well as the branches.
There are branches in all 14 wards in Makana, what are they saying? This must be clear so that we are not individuals, we must know what does the majority want in Makana, because I, as well have not elected myself, I have been elected by the branches.
The organisation must speak at the level of the branches and then the organisation itself regionally and provincially because deployment is not handled by us, we must remain procedural,” she said.
South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) secretary in Makana Vukile Silinga said as Samwu they can’t interfere with ANC processes.
“It is the prerogative of the ANC to select whoever they think is suitable for the mayorship position, that process is there.
The reason I’m saying that is because we are not in alliance with the ANC we are affiliated to Cosatu and it’s Cosatu who can nominate who should be deployed as the mayor,” he said.
Silinga said they were very respectful of ANC processes and they were confident that the party will deploy the right person.
“As Samwu we fully respect the ANC and we think they will elect a person who is suitable for the job at hand, and when they do that they will be guided by the Constitution and the resolution of the ANC that was taken in Polokwane. We are not in a position to say who must be elected to the position of mayor,” he said.
The ANC Youth League is adamant that they want a young person to get the powerful position in Makana.
Youth League convenor in Makana Siyabulela Sodladla said as the Youth League they re-affirm their position that it is time for a young person to lead this municipality and they have identified a cadre that they believe can lead and energise this municipality:
“We believe that Mabhuti Matyumza must lead and we went further and lobbied the branches of the ANC and they have spoken and they believe that he is the one that must lead this municipality, The branches have spoken and the people must listen” he said.
Speaking to Grocott’s Mail yesterday ANC regional secretary Scara Njadayi said he, like everyone else, was still in the dark with regards to who will be the mayor in Makana. He said the ANC will make a pronouncement on Tuesday next week.
“The latest will be Tuesday. The regional and provincial deployment committees will sit on Tuesday and they will reconcile the names.
I think by Tuesday evening or afternoon you will know. Even our deployment committee hasn’t sat, it will sit tomorrow,” he said.
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