Ndlovu said he has never manipulated any candidate list.
ANC acting provincial chairman Mandla Ndlovu says it remains the dream of disgruntled comrades that as a PEC they can be disbanded.
He said this as scores of ANC members picket outside the gate of the party’s headquarters, Che Masilela House, in Mbombela demanding the removal of the Mpumalanga ANC executive committee (PEC).
The marchers accuse PEC members aligned to Ndlovu of manipulating the recent councillor candidate list being prepared ahead of the local government elections.
They want the RECs and the PEC to be disbanded so that a new structure that is “neutral” is put into place.
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“Their wishes that we be disbanded is just their wishful thinking,” Ndlovu said when he spoke to Sowetan.
“We can not say anything about that [wishful thinking],” he said.
The march against the list caused outcry across all three regions, with members in Nkangala accusing their regional secretary Leah Khoza of being behind councillor list manipulation.
Ndlovu is seen as having an upper hand to take over as the chair of the Mpumalanga ANC when the party holds the much-awaited 13th provincial congress.
“We want this PEC out,” the ANC branch leader in Bushbuckridge, Real Modipane, said as the ANC marchers crashed open the gate of the Mbombela head office, accusing them of removing candidates nominated by other factions and replacing them with comrades from their slate.
“Their mandate has lapsed and they are now doing whatever they want,” Modipane said.
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Ndlovu said if there were any “technicalities“ they would be solved nationally.
“As far as we know we have submitted names and we are contesting all municipalities in the province,” he said.
He denied accusations that the alleged manipulation of the list is to insert people who will make sure his friends benefit from state tenders.
“Those saying I do tenders or discard people because I want certain companies to have tenders must go to hell. I don’t do tenders,” Ndlovu said.
(edited by ZK)
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