Johannesburg - The African National Congress (ANC) candidate lists for local government elections has been compiled and scrutinised to ensure all requirements were met, the ruling party said on Tuesday.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said requirements such as adequate representation of youth and women were met.
“The African National Congress is proud to report that on aggregate these targets have largely been met across all provinces. This is an undisputable demonstration of the ANC’s commitment to advancing our mission to create a non-sexist society, which empowers young people and people with disabilities, among others,” he told reporters in Johannesburg following the party’s national list conference and the NEC (national executive committee) meeting held over the weekend.
The requirements included that a minimum of 50 percent of all candidates on the list be women, 20 percent be youth, and a minimum of 2 percent be people with a disabilities.
In addition, a minimum of 60 percent of serving councillors should be retained to ensure continuity, Mantashe said. The outcome of the selection processes was presented to the NEC by the list committee.
Mantashe said the process of selecting mayoral candidates for Metros and other strategic municipalities was under way.
The mayoral candidates would be announced within two weeks, he said.
“It is important to announce candidates. Take Rustenburg, for example. It is growing and has potential to become a metro so to us it is strategic…same as Port Elizabeth, Polokwane and so on.”
The National List Committee (NLC) is chaired by Mantashe and is made up of another six senior ANC members, representatives from the tripartite alliance and the leagues. The candidates’ names would now be submitted to the Independent Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) by Thursday, the deadline for registration of candidates contesting the August 3 municipal elections.
Last week, scores of disgruntled ANC supporters from the Francis Baard region in Kimberley protested while the party list conference was underway in Pretoria.
The group claimed the lists were manipulated and that their chosen candidates were removed from the lists. The nomination process was marred by violence at branch meetings with several people having been killed, mostly in KwaZulu-Natal.
African News Agency