African National Congress members and supporters burned party T-shirts and posters in Maditlhokwa near Marikana in North West on Friday to protest against the ward councillor candidate nominated for the August 3 municipal elections.
The protesters pledged their support for the Forum 4 Service Delivery (F4SD) and vowed to frustrate all ANC efforts to campaign in the area.
“We cannot allow Appearance Ndlovu to be our councillor. He is not our choice. Working together we can destroy the elephant called the ANC,” said Alex Lesang at a community meeting in Maditlhokwa.
Simon Ntimba, of the F4SD, said the forum was a body of independent candidates contesting the local government elections following widespread unhappiness with the ANC candidate selection process.
“We have registered to contest all 45 wards in the Rustenburg local municipality. Your preferred candidate will be contesting the election. If you vote for the forum he will win and if we win about 22 wards of the municipality the mayor will be from us; when we contest as individual independent candidates we do not have the power to take over the municipality.
“The forum is the voice of the people. We want to teach the ANC a lesson to listen by not voting for them on August 3. We love the ANC and want the ANC to listen to the people; if the ANC listens we will vote ANC in 2019,” Ntimba said.
While he was speaking youths took off their ANC T-shirts and set them alight. They also piled up ANC election posters and burned them.
Maditlhokwa residents barricaded roads in the area early in June to protest against the nominated ward councillor candidate. They wanted Boikhutso Tshelane to be ward 32 councillor, but the ANC registered incumbent councillor Ndlovu as the ANC candidate in the ward.
Maditlhokwa has been an ANC stronghold in Marikana following the formation of the Economic Freedom Fighters in 2013. The F4SD promises to run a clean municipality with the focus on delivering basic service to the people. The forum has also promised to give subsidised water and electricity to poor families.
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