Lack of diversity earns ANC in Cape Town a massive black mark from provincial bosses

The Western Cape ANC has slammed the leadership of its Cape Town region for failing to choose racially diverse councillors in the City of Cape Town.

Provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs said of the city’s 55 ANC councillors‚ only six were not African and there was not a single white.

“We are concerned that our councillors don’t represent the broad constituency and democracy of Cape Town‚” Jacobs said on Monday.

“It is a challenge we must improve if we want to win support ... we must ensure that we have a non-racial character.” Cape Town’s population is roughly 45% coloured‚ 43% white and 9% African.

Jacobs was speaking to TimesLive after he told a media briefing the party’s provincial leadership had decided to dissolve the leadership structure of the Dullah Omar region‚ which geographically conforms to the City of Cape Town.

He said the party needed to ensure there was cooperation among communities‚ and diversity was vital‚ not only in terms of race but also in terms of gender and religion.

The region’s disbandment follows divisions sparked when the Dullah Omar leadership failed to successfully install their preferred candidate‚ Songezo Mjongile‚ as provincial secretary two years ago.

The divisions erupted in public on Sunday when a group of provincial executive committee members held a press conference slamming the decision by the PEC to dissolve the Dullah Omar region.

Jacobs said dissolution followed the party’s poor showing in last August’s local government elections‚ which he described as “perhaps the worst in the history of the ANC in the province”.

He added: “As election results showed‚ the region lost ground to the DA and even the EFF.” The DA won 154 seats last August and the Economic Freedom Fighters won seven.

During the elections campaign‚ said Jacobs‚ it had been clear the regional executive committee did not accept the authority of the provincial leadership.