No retreat on new Tshwane mayor

24 June 2016 - 09:30 By NEO GOBA

The ANC in Gauteng has drawn a full election campaign schedule for its Tshwane mayoral candidate Thoko Didiza. Didiza will have to undertake a door-to-door campaign in the city, including the surrounding townships where violence has erupted.Tshwane has been engulfed in violence this week following the decision by the ANC to nominate Didiza as the capital city's mayoral candidate. Ostensibly, the protesters want to continue under the current mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa.Speaking in Saxonwold yesterday, the provincial ANC leadership said both Ramokgopa and deputy mayor Mapiti Matsena would be part of Didiza's campaign in the city."Wherever she will be going, they will be giving her full support."That's why you heard our regional chair [Ramokgopa] saying that people should not do things in his name," said Gauteng ANC secretary Hope Papo.Ramokgopa was one of three people who were nominated by ANC branches in the region, only to be replaced by Didiza by the party's national leadership.Although Didiza lives in the capital, people believed to be Ramokgopa's supporters have latched onto the fact that she originally comes from KwaZulu-Natal, labelling her an outsider.But a seemingly calm and confident Didiza said the dissatisfaction of some members had little to do with her nomination or her origin.She said: "I've never and I still do not feel foreign in Tshwane, even with the latest incidents, which I don't think reflect the feelings of the community of Tshwane. I therefore don't in any way feel alienated. I feel part of that community."Since the beginning of the week, many parts of the city have been rendered inaccessible due to road closures, looting of shops and the torching of vehicles during protests.Papo urged the police to prosecute those who had been identified as being at the forefront of the violence.Said Papo: "Our stance is that, whether there's an ANC member or non-ANC member who has been involved in criminal activities which happened in Tshwane, the police must act."Whoever in the investigation is found to have organised or perpetuated the protests, they must be arrested without fear or favour. They must be charged because nobody has been mandated to cause havoc in any of the townships in Tshwane."ANARCHY REACHES OUT FROM TSHWANEViolence about the selection of ANC mayoral candidates has now spread beyond Tshwane and gripped other parts of the country.On Wednesday night a community hall in Makau Oukasi, in North West, was set alight by residents, in protest over a mayoral candidate.The violence continued yesterday as foreign-owned shops in the township were looted. Police asked all shop owners in the township and parts of Brits to close their businesses as a safety precaution. Police confirmed the discovery of a body in Central City Shopping Centre, Pretoria,yesterday morning.The shops in the centre had all been thoroughly looted.Looters also invaded Tshwane's Mabopane Mall on Tuesday.Police Colonel Noxolo Kweza said another body was found among houses near the mall.The bodies found in Mabopane bring to five the number of people killed in the unrest in Tshwane.The situation in Mamelodi was so volatile yesterday that Denlyn, a large suburban shopping centre, closed its gates.The shopping centre was operating under tight security yesterday morning, with security guards allowing entry only to shoppers on foot. - Additional reporting by Penwell Dlamini and Bongani Nkosi..

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