The ANC's decision to rope in Thoko Didiza as a compromise mayoral candidate for Tshwane has backfired - angry party members have run amok, burning buses and clashing with the police. A metro police car was stoned and overturned yesterday, just hours after the ANC officially announced that Didiza, a minister during the Thabo Mbeki presidency, was its candidate. This follows the fatal shooting of an ANC member in the city on Sunday night.Last night, about 20 buses and two municipal vehicles were torched in Mamelodi East, metro police said.''There is a big ball of fire hanging over the bus depot,'' local resident Sibongiseni Mkhaliphi said.Tshwane on fire as ANC election protests spreadCommunity protests in Pretoria are spreading through the capital city following the announcement of Thoko Didiza as the ruling African National Congress' mayoral candidate for Tshwane.''There are people everywhere acting as though they are possessed, stoning anything in sight. It is scary," he said.Police confirmed that violence had spread to the Pretoria CBD and Atteridgeville. There were unconfirmed reports that Soshanguve and Kameeldrift were affected."We can confirm we have issues in Mamelodi and the CBD," said Tshwane metro police spokesman Superintendent Isaac Mahamba.The police's Captain Augustinah Selepe said neighbouring police stations had deployed officers to flashpoints. "Police are patrolling Atteridgeville," she said.Yesterday afternoon ANC members opposed to the decision by the party's national executive committee protested in Arcadia and attacked the metro police car. "They started throwing stones at the car for no apparent reason before overturning it," said Mahamba. The protesters complained about what they said was interference in the selection of the candidate by Luthuli House, the ANC's national headquarters, and that Didiza had been imposed on them."We cannot be told to elect the best among us only for Luthuli House to decide on our behalf. Where is democracy in this? Didiza will still have to work with us and she will be sucked into the chaos," said a senior party member.Last night, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe attempted to distance the ruling party from the violence, telling eNCA that ''thuggery is taking over politics'', and calling for those responsible for the mayhem to be arrested.Tshwane is likely to be fiercely contested in the August 3 local government elections, with both the DA and EFF expected to put in a strong showing.In Rustenburg, ANC supporters protested against mayoral candidate Mpho Khunou, who they said had been imposed on them. In other parts of the country, ANC leaders had to calm tempers as members staged protests and demanded reviews of candidate lists.For months the ANC has tried to reconcile rival factions in Tshwane without success. Divisions between regional party chairman and incumbent mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa and his deputy in the ANC regional leadership, Mapiti Matsena, are said to be at the centre of the chaos. ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte told journalists yesterday that the relationship between Ramokgopa and Matsena had broken down.Duarte said that, in arriving at the decision to nominate Didiza as the ANC's mayoral candidate, the provincial and national leadership took into consideration not only "technical aspects" relating to the candidate but also "the issue of unity [in the party in the region]".In her appeal for ANC members to accept Didiza's selection, Duarte appeared to acknowledge the unpopularity of the national executive committee's decision. She said that there would be more meetings with party branches to explain the decision."The ANC calls for calm and discipline among members ... The robust nature of our candidate selection process provides an opportunity for members of our organisation to voice their displeasure. [But] once decisions are taken it is ultimately incumbent on all our members to close ranks and, in this case, support and rally behind Comrade Thoko Didiza and all our councillor candidates," she said.Political analyst Somadoda Fikeni said the ANC still had time to restore calm before the election but the success of such an attempt would depend on interactions between leaders and members."Didiza just might do the trick of convincing non-ANC supporters that the party has selected a candidate of considerable quality. What is important about an election is attaining a majority and the selection of Thoko Didiza might have the effect of bringing people who otherwise would have voted for another party over to the ANC.''..