Candidates on ANC list living in fear

22 June 2016 - 08:56 By TREMAINE VAN AARDT and ZINE GEORGE

A Port Elizabeth councillor candidate got a rude awakening on Monday night when his home was petrol-bombed.Siphiwe Plaatjies's home was attacked amid widespread anger over the ANC candidate selection process.The attack has triggered claims by Nelson Mandela Bay ANC elections head and chief council whip Litho Suka of a low-intensity war being waged against individuals named on the party's candidate list in the municipality.This senseless incident comes less than a week after:A gun attack on a Nelson Mandela Bay ward 15 candidate Celia Mtati, 54, on Wednesday last week; andAngry protesters burning tyres and blocking roads with rocks and tree stumps in Zwide on Saturday over ward councillor selections.Suka said in addition to the two attacks, other candidates on the list were receiving death threats."We are very concerned as an organisation because if you are following these stories, it is about the ANC and nothing else," he said. "Especially in the metro, there are those that are trying to instil fear and they are not going to succeed."Plaatjies said he woke up at about 2.30am to the sound of barking dogs and a fire.He said fortunately a high-boundary fence affected the suspects' aim, resulting in the bomb exploding against a wall.Another petrol bomb was tossed through the window of a spare bedroom.Meanwhile, the Eastern Cape ANC has made a startling admission that its candidates' nomination process was so messy that in fewer than 20 wards it will have to get rid of councillors and hold by-elections soon after the August 3 municipal elections.The party is contesting all of the province's 705 wards...

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