The ANC is caught in the middle of a raging storm as it tries to trim its list of candidates for the municipal elections in August.Yesterday about 5,000 party members protested outside the ANC national head office, Luthuli House, in Johannesburg, demanding that their preferred candidates be included on the list.Thursday was the last day on which parties could submit their candidate list to the Independent Electoral Commission.We sympathise with Gwede Mantashe, the ANC secretary-general, as he battles to find a balance between experience and populism.As the protesters demanded his intervention, Mantashe complained that compiling the candidate list was "like being responsible for a nuclear bomb".The jockeying for power has led to deadly developments in KwaZulu-Natal.The ANC there is reeling after three of its leaders were gunned down in 48 hours.The killings are believed to be linked to the selection of election candidates.Our political parties must stop this violence before we descend into total war, driven by greed.Since politics became the preferred route to wealth and status, more and more people are resorting to whatever it takes - legal or illegal, moral or immoral - to get elected to public office.But we can arrest the trend by strengthening our economy and providing our people with alternatives.Some in the ANC say that the party is under siege by outside forces.Yesterday, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said the ANC was facing a hostile takeover of power similar to that in Brazil.Statements such as these are cause for concern as we move closer to the elections. Our leaders cannot talk of shadows to justify their actions when elections don't go their way...