It’s alleged that ANC members in the Mamusa Local Municipality voted for an EFF councillor to be the speaker during a secret ballot voting process. The ANC’s Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) coordinator in the North West, Hlomani Chauke, says ANC members at this municipal council elected to cast secret ballots against the directive of the organisation. The EFF’s Olebeng Mogorosi was voted as the speaker after he obtained 9 votes against the 7 of his ANC’s rival, Doctor Batsi.

The ANC retained the municipality with a margin of 55%, which gave them 9 seats followed by the EFF with 25% giving them 4 seats and Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus), DA and Azania Independent Community Movement (AICM), all receiving a seat each in the council. Meanwhile, the council was disrupted yesterday following the election of Mogorosi as the speaker and was this morning set to resume at 10:00, but word on the ground is that the council sitting is yet to start with ANC members involved in an internal caucus.
 
Chauke says the ANC secured a victory during recent local government elections, winning 7 out of 8 wards and the party is represented by 9 councillors in a 16-member council.
 
"The ANC in the North West condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the developments in the Mamusa Local Municipal council where ANC members elected to vote in a secret ballot against the directive of the organisation. In the worst act of counterrevolution, some ANC councillors - who are unknown at this stage - voted in favour of the candidate of the opposition, electing him as Speaker of the Mamusa Local Municipality,” he adds.
 
Chauke has described the developments in Mamusa as an act of disloyalty and betrayal, which undermines the will of the people of Mamusa.
 
He says “the support that the ANC enjoys in Mamusa was also demonstrable 22 months ago when the ANC secured victory during a hotly contested by-election, following the disbandment of the previous municipal council”.
 
“The ANC will investigate the conduct of our councillors whose actions have brought the movement into disrepute. Our councillors have recently signed deployment contracts, committing themselves to respect the constitution of the ANC. The actions of these faceless elements constitute a gross violation of our deployment contract and the ANC Constitution,” Chauke further adds.

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