Dozens of sidelined MK Party councillor candidates in eThekwini are demanding that “parachuted” replacements resign before the November 4 elections
The candidates alleged that, while they were chosen by their communities to represent the party in the ward, their names were allegedly removed and replaced with others on the party's official lists submitted to the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) for the November 4 local government election.
The disgruntled candidates are demanding that the individuals who replaced them on the official lists to sign pre-dated resignation letters or commit to immediate post-election resignations. They fear that once if the candidates win the ward seats, they will refuse to step down, leaving the party with no legal mechanism to force them out short of formal party expulsion.
Last week, in response to the alleged list manipulation, the MK Party president Jacob Zuma dissolved the Presidential Task Team and ordered an investigation. The party's former mayoral candidate for eThekwini, Zandile Hlophe-Mkhwanazi was also removed from the National Party Liaison Committee, alongside fellow committee member Sibonelo Maphumulo. In an interview with The National, Maphumulo denied any role in submitting altered candidate lists.
One affected candidate from uMlazi, south of Durban, said the party should order the “parachuted” candidates to resign prior to the elections.
“By doing that, the leadership will be giving us a guarantee that there would be by-elections. Otherwise, we do not want to accept an unguaranteed promise that the wrongfully submitted candidates will be removed after the elections,” the candidate said.
“People in our wards are telling us that they will not vote for people they did not choose.”
Disgruntled party members took their complaints to a meeting attended by Zuma and other senior officials last week. They alleged that legitimate candidate lists for several eThekwini wards had been tampered with, resulting in the removal of candidates selected by communities.
A preliminary investigation found that 34 wards appeared to have legitimate concerns, according to the party’s eThekwini spokesperson, Mkhanka Zuma.
He said the organisation had acknowledged that incorrect candidates were submitted to the IEC in some wards.
“The party is working around the clock to find solutions in the best interests of the organisation,” he said.
However the spokesperson raised another issue that some of the candidates had been rejected during the party’s vetting process because of criminal records. He said the party had agreed that members affected by the vetting and screening process would receive the relevant reports directly, rather than having the information made public.
“We therefore appeal to all comrades who were rejected during the screening and vetting process not to use the current administrative challenges in wards where incorrect candidates were registered as an opportunity to claim that they were also victims of administrative errors, particularly where they are aware that their exclusion was as a result of the vetting process,” he said.
The IEC has maintained the candidate-submission deadline was August 28 and has reportedly declined requests for replacements. It was approached for comment but had not responded by publication.
willem.phungula@nationalmg.co.za