ANC provincial secretary Songezo Mjongile said the party was evaluating the effectiveness of its councillors and members of the provincial legislature. The evaluation was expected to be completed next month.

"We'll evaluate them against the objectives we've set as the ANC. We'll be looking at their impact," said Mjongile.

The public representatives would be judged on their "effectiveness" in driving issues .

During the Western Cape ANC's general council meeting in June - ahead of the party's national policy conference - a call was made that members of the provincial executive take up seats in the legislature so the party could closely coordinate its opposition to the DA.

Mjongile said that five days had been set aside this week for branch audits, which would indicate the size of the province's delegation to the party's elective conference in Mangaung.

He said the branches also had to evaluate - ahead of the party's nomination process, which kicks off in October - the performance of the 85 leaders elected in Polokwane in 2007.

The ANC in Western Cape is split in its support for President Jacob Zuma's bid for a second term.

Mjongile is one of the provincial leaders who have publicly said there is a need to change the party's leadership.

"Structures must start debating whether this [national executive committee] has been able to deliver on its mandate, and what kind of NEC we need to take this programme [forward]," said Mjongile.

Violent service-delivery protests that had plagued Cape Town since the start of winter - leading to the death of a bus driver at the weekend - were a result of the DA administration's "unresponsiveness" to the needs of poor communities.

"The reason people end up taking this desperate action is because they are not getting a sympathetic ear from the government," Mjongile said.