NC civic movements to be kingmakers in hung municipalities
| Author | Sandi Kwon Hoo sandi.kwonhoo@inl.co.za |
| Published date | 05 November 2021 |
| Publication title | Diamond Fields Advertiser |
The Namakwa Civic Movement obtained eight council seats, while the Gamagara Community Forum received two seats and the Siyathemba Community Forum secured five seats.
ANC provincial secretary Deshi Ngxanga said yesterday that he, along with ANC deputy provincial secretary Maruping Lekwene, was personally engaging with various civic movements.
“We are prepared to enter into coalitions with any party, other than the DA. The DA is a no-no for us due to our ideological differences,” said Ngxanga.
“We are willing to work together with the EFF – they are left-wing like the ANC, although we have not approached them yet.”
Ngxanga added that they preferred to conclude working agreements with civic movements.
“These members left the ANC to contest on their own, as they disagreed with the nomination process of councillors. We are certain that we can arrive at an understanding.”
He said the ANC shared the common objectives of community-driven service delivery forums, that they needed to focus on improving service delivery.
“We held our first discussions in Namakwa and Pixley ka Seme and the reception so far has been good.”
He indicated that all councillors would be forced to resign from their places of employment within both the private or public sectors before Monday.
“Councillors must be fully committed to their work as ward or council representatives – round the clock. We warned them in advance and if they do not agree to this they will be removed and we will hold a by-election. We expect them to devote their undivided attention to service delivery.”
Ngxanga stated that they would hold regional executive committee meetings on Thursday to nominate councillors, mayors and Speakers.
“Mayors are appointed with the understanding that they will be employed on a four-year contract. Once their contracts expire, they must apply for another position based on their skills and qualifications. They will not be automatically deployed, there will be no special favours offered to anyone.”
Ngxnanga assured that political staff would be required to work with existing staff. “No one who is doing their job will be fired. This will create more problems.”
The DA, which received the second highest number of votes in the Province, will also look...
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