More allegations of ANC election list ‘fixing’ surface in Limpopo. Picture: Timothy Bernard African News Agency (ANA)
There have been more allegations of ‘election list altering’ in the ANC stronghold of Limpopo.
These claims continue to surface ahead of the May 29 elections.
This after another controversial ANC MP, Ponani Makhubele, complained to the governing party that her name had been taken down the pecking order of the national list.
Makhubele has reportedly made her intentions known that she was going to take the governing party to court following another controversial MP Boy Mamabolo.
Previously The Star reported that Mamabolo, who fired the first salvo against the party regarding list altering, subsequently lost a court case against allegations that his name had been taken down the list despite receiving votes by a number of branches.
While Mamabolo complained about party officials in Limpopo allegedly omitting his name on the candidate list, Makhubele on the other hand was unhappy that the party’s electoral committee, headed by former president Kgalema Motlanthe, had altered the list.
It would not be the first time Makhubele took the ANC head-on. In 2021, the court ordered the governing party to pay her damages worth over R1 million for a similar matter. The party paid Makhubele for the 18 months, during which time they failed to comply with a court order that forced them to include her on the 2019 national election list, after she was controversially left out.
Makhubele has been an MP since the court order and a member of the Bongi Mabunda ANC branch in Giyani, Limpopo.
Her complaint noted she was initially among the first 100 on the national list, but suddenly appeared at number 114 and then moved to number 124.
The MP has been demanding answers from the ANC electoral committee and the election manager ever since the previous dispute.
The Sunday Independent quotes Makhubele as saying: “What puzzles me is how they push me back as I’m a currently serving member of the sixth Parliament (2019-2024 term). The ANC has a standing principle that, among others, the list committee would consider and give priority to the following: continuity, women, qualifications and experience.”
Makhubele added: “I am a woman who was actually nominated by a majority of branches across the country, and I also even – according to a letter written by Chief Matsila, the secretary of the election commission, sent to me – was at 114 on the raw list.
“But then let’s say I was at 114, how do they explain moving me from 114 to 124 while I meet all the necessary requirements? The ANC continues to reward friends and those close to leadership.”
”I also think they always find it easier to also deal with women as this is my second time. In 2019 I experienced the same. Since the 8th of March 2024 I have been trying to reach out to SGO (ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula’s office), the (ANC) presidency and TG (treasurer-general Dr Gwen Ramokgopa), none of whom has responded. Even the election commission took a month to respond to me,” she said.
Makhubele also wanted to know why she was almost never called for interviews according to the publication.
”It’s enough to show there have been intentions from the onset to isolate me,” she reportedly said.
Electoral committee secretary Chief Livhuwani Matsila said they had provided Makhubele with clarity on the process and a final response.
The committee told Makhubele last month that she had been confirmed as 124 out of 200 candidates in the national-to-national list as approved by ANC leaders.
ANC provincial spokesperson, Jimmy Machaka, said that Makhubele and Mamabolo would not be part of the ANC list.
“The status of the two comrades is that they will not form part of the ANC list of representatives,” Machaka said.
Contacted for comment, Mamabolo said: “In my situation, they (ANC) requested me not to take it on a normal roll as yet because the National Working Committee (NWC) is on top of the matter,” he said.
He said the NWC were to meet with the Limpopo ANC to resolve the matter.
The Star