ANC will investigate candidate list process 'thoroughly', but only after elections, says Ramaphosa

ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised supporters that the ruling party will investigate any fraudulent activities that may have taken place during the compilation of the ward councillor lists.

“We have already appointed an investigation team that will go into this thoroughly, and wherever we find that there are fraudulent activities and there was unacceptable behaviour, we will attend to that and even change the list, for that purpose,” said Ramaphosa on Saturday.

On the campaign trail in the Dr WB Rubusana Region in the Eastern Cape at the weekend, Ramaphosa said, “All those missteps and complaints are going to be handled after the elections.”

The ANC delegation went door-to-door encouraging communities in ward 23 in Mdatsana to vote for the ANC in the upcoming local government elections.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the campaign, Ramaphosa responded to questions on how the party plans to address grievances over the selection of ward councillors.

He said, “We have said that our selection process has been quite historic and unprecedented in that for the most part, we have involved communities to nominate, select and vote for our ward councillors.

“We have admitted that here and there, there were errors and may have been some missteps and in Buffalo City, particularly, the errors and the missteps have not been many or plentiful.”

In fact, said Ramaphosa, the city was one of the very best in terms of registering their candidates on time. For the ANC, the main priority is for the 2021 local government elections to go ahead successfully, said Ramaphosa. “We cannot change the candidate list now, so post the elections we will be able to settle all of that.”

He said “all our candidates must go forward and must all put shoulder to the wheel and make sure that there is an ANC victory in this metro.”

Ramaphosa officially kicked off the party’s election campaign in Soweto two weeks ago where he promised residents that he would fix their electricity problems.

In Thembisa last week, he encouraged residents to get vaccinated and promised that the government was going to “work very hard to make sure we will create jobs because today there are 12-million South Africans who are not working”.

On Saturday, Ramaphosa reminded residents to vote for the ANC on November 1. He also said he was pleased with the progress in providing houses for the residents. “We are very pleased with the progress that is being made to improve their lives ... It is pleasing to come to an area where residents are satisfied with the performance of their local government.” 

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