Eastern Cape ANC welcomes SACP's withdrawal from local elections

Amanda Khoza, News24

2016-07-06 16:23

FILE: AFP

Durban – The Eastern Cape ANC on Wednesday welcomed the SACP's withdrawal of its registration for the local government elections.

"We believe this decision will close the space that some political opportunists use to contest for positions of authority in the province and in other parts of the country," said the SACP's provincial secretary, Lubabalo Mabuyane.

He said a group of disgruntled SACP members in the Afred Nzo region had registered themselves to contest the upcoming local elections as the South African Communist Party, without the party's permission.

"They wanted to go against the ANC, but their decision was not given the blessing by the SACP and we knew that the decision would have put a strain on the relationship between the ANC and the alliance."

He acknowledged there were problems in the region, but they needed to deal with them together.

"Problems cannot be wished away. We need to solve them."

Mabuyane called on people in the province to be distance themselves from anyone masquerading as SACP representatives.

They would not contest the elections, but would support the ANC. The alliance had committed to working together as a collective, he said.

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