The ANC’s march to the November 4 local government elections is turning into a march on itself.
On Monday, angry ANC members from Tshwane and Johannesburg descended on the party’s headquarters, Luthuli House, accusing their own leaders of fraudulently compiling ward councillor candidate lists and ignoring branch democracy.
The protesting branches say the lists submitted to the Electoral Commission do not reflect the outcomes of voting processes held at their branches.
They allege officials doctored the lists, parachuting in preferred candidates and erasing those democratically elected by members.
They are now demanding urgent talks with ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula and the party’s Gauteng provincial leadership to reverse what they call a hijacking of internal democracy.
The revolt at the gates of Luthuli House could not have come at a worse time.
The ANC is already preparing for a bruising legal battle with the Independent Electoral Commission after missing the deadline to submit candidate lists in key metros.
The party missed the 28 August cut-off for nominations – for the second election in a row.
In a statement that raised eyebrows, the ANC blamed a “glitch” in the IEC’s electronic system for the failure.
The IEC has flatly rejected that explanation, maintaining that its system did not experience a failure.
The dispute is now headed to court, with the ANC seeking condonation and the IEC holding its ground.
In Tshwane, where the ANC is desperate to reclaim the city it lost in 2016, branch members say legitimate candidates elected at branch general meetings were replaced by names that never appeared on any branch ballot.
In Johannesburg, similar allegations have emerged of list candidates.
“The lists do not reflect what branches voted for,” one branch chairperson from Region Four in Tshwane told Africa Daily.
“We followed all processes, we voted, we have minutes. Then, a different list appears at the IEC. How does that work?”
Luthuli House has tried to downplay the protests as “normal contestation” that happens before every list process.
But insiders say the crisis is far deeper than that.
A source within the ANC said that the party’s candidate system was buckling under factional warfare, saying last-minute horse-trading and a failure of its internal electoral committee to manage deadlines had fractured the organisation.
The IEC glitch excuse – now disputed by the IEC itself – has only fuelled suspicion inside branches that the delay was used to tamper with lists.
Secretary – General Fikile Mbalula said the march was a direct challenge to his authority.
As an ANC boss, Mbalula is the custodian of lists and the final signatory.
The branches are calling for his office to intervene, but many also blame his office for the mess.
“The ANC now faces a two-front war court battle against the IEC to save its candidates from disqualification, and on the streets against its own members to save its legitimacy,” said one branch member from Johannesburg.