ANC fears losing Tshwane - WikiLeaks
2011-03-30 10:00
Pretoria - The Tshwane local government election battle
has heated up, with revelations from whistleblower website WikiLeaks that the
ANC is nervous the DA's "day dreams" will be realised in the metro.
The DA on Tuesday said this confirms the ANC's fears
in the capital.
According to a WikiLeaks cable which emerged last
month, the ANC's Gauteng spokesperson Dumisa Ntuli told an American diplomat that
the ANC was bothered that it could possibly lose Tshwane to the DA.
Ntuli apparently said in the conversation on September 30, 2009 that the ANC
had "big internal problems in Tshwane".
Nightmare
The DA on Tuesday reacted to the ANC Tshwane region's
comment that the DA's "day dreaming about Tshwane is going to change into
a nightmare" in the municipal elections.
According to the cable, Ntuli indicated the problems in Tshwane could be
attributed to ANC infighting to get control over the metro council.
Former municipal manager of Tshwane, Kiba Kekana, was "provisionally
suspended" a month after Ntuli's alleged conversation. Kekana left at the
end of last year with a golden handshake after a long suspension.
Former executive Tshwane mayor Dr Gwen Ramokgopa was redeployed in November
last year after endless rumours that she had fallen into disfavour in local ANC
circles.
Meanwhile, Ntuli has denied the conversation. "I
never said that... I can't comment on something I never said."
Voters tired
DA MP Fred Nel said the DA was confident that it could
win Tshwane.
He said the ANC - as could clearly be seen in the
Ntuli conversation - had more than enough reason to be worried.
"Voters in Tshwane are tired of poor governing, arrogant leaders and
patchy service delivery."
There is still no sign of the ANC's list of candidates for Tshwane. A source in
the ANC told Beeld confidentially on Tuesday that a few "touchy
issues" still had to be dealt with before it could be revealed.
Ntuli said on Tuesday the ANC would reveal it next week.
