The ANC Johannesburg region has distanced itself from the “Hollywood-style” bust which allegedly discovered ballot boxes at a Pretoria home on Sunday. Regional secretary Sasabona Manganye petitioned for the structure to not be associated with the “shenanigans” that have arisen after conference. “National and the province will have to speak because it has nothing to do with us.
Our regional conference was properly closed on December 5 by comradeKhumbudzo Ntshavhenias the convenor of deployees of the NEC. “What happened there is not our business; national and province will have to deal with it. You have an ANC internal process being subjected to media coverage, you want to go and get ballot papers live on TV.
You ask yourself, this movie was well directed — because the movie started with Sanco and a media briefing and now the ballot showdown?” he said. The newly elected regional executive convened a special sitting the following day to discuss the challenges which have spilled over into the public domain. “We have convened a special meeting to assess the intensifying political attacks directed at the democratically elected leadership of the 16th regional conference which undermines the authority of branches in exercising their democratic right to elect their leaders.” No individual or structure has the authority to bypass, override or criminalise ANC political processes.
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The ANC is not governed by the police, nor will it allow state institutions to weaponise it in factional battles He clarified that the authority over the internal elections, the supervision of the ballot papers and dispute resolution rested exclusively with the ANC electoral commission through an independent electoral agency. “No individual or structure has the authority to bypass, override or criminalise ANC political processes. The ANC is not governed by the police, nor will it allow state institutions to weaponise it in factional battles.” Manganye hit back at the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco), which he blamed for being the catapult for the reaction to Dada Morero’s loss of political power in the region.
“Sanco’s continued alignment with particular groupings of the ANC undermines its credibility as a civic organisation and erodes the foundational principles within the alliance. The failure of Sanco to formally congratulate the newly elected leadership confirms the posture driven by political preference over principled political engagement.” However, Manganye said the ANC Gauteng leadership collective had kept mum and not come to the region’s defence in the face of a myriad of scathing allegations.
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