Tlokwe – praag.org

ANC retains control of two out of three Potchefstroom wards

The ANC retained control of two of the three wards in the Tlokwe (Potchefstroom) by-elections in the North West on Wednesday.

The party’s candidate Oupa Mogoshane lost Ward 26 with 900 votes to independent candidate Batiki “Stone” Mahlabe’s 1425 votes, according to the IEC’s results report.

The United Christian Democratic Party candidate Moeketsi Phakedi received 10 votes.

A total of 5677 people were registered to vote in the ward of which only 2374 cast their ballot. There were 39 spoilt votes.

Mahlabe, who was a former African National Congress councillor in the area for 12 years, registered as an independent candidate after he was expelled along with 13 others from the party in July for participating in a motion of no confidence against Tlokwe mayor Maphetle Maphetle.

Maphetle was replaced by Democratic Alliance councillor Annette Combrink.

However, the ANC’s national disciplinary committee overturned the expulsions but Mahlabe decided not to return to the party.

In the 2011 local government elections, the African National Congress won Ward 26 with 3403 of the 3580 valid votes cast, which gave them an overwhelming majority of 95.06 percent of the votes.

The ANC won the by-elections in Ward six and 18 on Wednesday.

In Ward 18 the ANC faced off with another former party member and provincial chief whip David Kham, who registered as an independent candidate.

Kham, like Mahlabe, was one of the 14 councillors expelled from the party.

ANC candidate Thapelo Skozana won with 884 to Kham’s 520 votes.

The Azanian People’s Organisation’s Matladi Mofokeng received 11 votes and the UCDP’s Molebatsi Lehloo 10 votes.

A total of 3251 people were registered to vote in Ward 18 but only 1452 votes were cast and 27 of those were spoilt.

In 2011, the ANC won the ward with 1859 of the 2009 votes cast which resulted in a 94.37 percent victory.

In Ward six the ANC’s Japhta Monaisa won 882 of the 1386 valid votes cast. The Democratic Alliance’s Johann Coetzee came in second with 493 votes.

Azapo’s Lesego Malepe received six votes and UCDP’S Mawela Dinko received five votes.

A total of 4254 people were registered to vote in Ward six but only 1408 came to the polls. There were 22 spoilt votes.

In 2011, the ANC received 1352 (64.26 percent) of the 2104 valid votes and the DA received 720 (34.22 percent) of the votes. – Sapa

‘Reclaim Tlokwe from baases and madams’

Residents of Tlokwe, North West, should back the ANC in next year’s national elections, the SA Communist Party said on Sunday.

“The SACP calls upon all ANC members and SACP cadres, including Cosatu members to ensure that we mobilise the people of Tlokwe to vote for the ANC overwhelming [sic], so that we can rightly re-claim this municipality from the party of the baases and madams,” SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande said in a speech prepared for delivery.

He was speaking at the Ikageng Stadium in Potchefstroom ahead of the party’s 92nd birthday celebrations next month. The celebrations would be held in Tlokwe, the municipality which has its seat in the town.

Nzimande said they condemned those African National Congress members who had voted with the Democratic Alliance and other opposition parties to unseat ANC mayor Maphetle Maphetle.

He was replaced by DA councillor Annette Combrink in July, the second time since November. The North West ANC’s disciplinary committee expelled the councillors concerned, resulting in them losing their seats.

Nzimande said the ANC should fix the problems in the area.

“It is important that the ANC itself must act with speed to attend to whatever problems, including suspected corruption, against its own cadres. But, no matter what grievance any ANC cadre may have, this cannot be translated to the betrayal of the ANC,” he said. – Sapa

Tlokwe: Food parcels to ‘buy votes’

The SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) has accused Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini of trying to buy votes in Tlokwe, in the North West, with food parcels, the Saturday Star reported.

Sanco regional secretary James Gadinabokao reportedly said that Dlamini distributed parcels ahead of ward by-elections in an attempt to buy votes.

“This is a blatant abuse of state resources to campaign for votes,” he said.

“Why does the minister choose to go to Ward Nine, where by-elections will be held, of all the poverty-stricken areas in Tlokwe?”

Dlamini denied this was the motivation behind the relief efforts and said there were more than 17 000 child-headed households in Tlokwe.

“We are not going to stop our programmes because there are by-elections. The problem of malnutrition in this area is a concern for us.”

However, according to the report, a representative from the DR Kenneth Kaunda municipality warned residents on Friday that if the ANC-led government lost power, they would lose grants and food parcels.

Tlokwe’s ANC mayor Maphetle Maphetle has been unseated twice when ANC councillors voted to replace him with Democratic Alliance councillor Annette Combrink.

The ANC’s North West provincial disciplinary committee expelled the councillors concerned, resulting in them losing their seats.

The by-elections are scheduled to take place on Wednesday. – Sapa