Sammuel999
JF-Expert Member
- Jun 1, 2016
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Police are battling to quell violence that has
broken out in the area around South Africa's
capital, Pretoria.
A government statement calling for calm said
police officers "came under fire as protesters
allegedly attacked their car with stones".
Trouble broke out in the Tshwane area
reportedly over the mayoral candidate chosen
by the governing ANC for August's elections.
The tension relates to factionalism within the
party, analysts say.
Local media are showing pictures of burning
barricades blocking main roads.
South Africa's government has called for
dialogue to sort out the problem.
Africa Live: BBC news updates from the
continent
Some ANC members in the city are said to be
angry that current mayor Kgosientsho
Ramokgopa was pushed aside in the
nomination process.
But Mr Ramokgopa has said he is happy with
the selection of Thoko Didiza, reports South
African news channel EWN .
"I really want to call for calm [and] call for
people not to disrupt other people's lives.
Let's allow this election to unfold in a free and
fair manner," he is quoted as saying.
The ANC is tearing itself apart: Milton Nkosi,
BBC News, South Africa
The chaotic situation playing itself out is
symptomatic of a wider problem of
factionalism that has plagued the ANC.
This is about an ANC that is tearing itself
apart partly because of the politics of
patronage and the cancer of corruption.
At the heart of these violent protests is the
hypnotic inner voice repeatedly playing in the
minds of those burning and pillaging: "It's our
time to eat, it's our time to eat."
The idea that the selection of one mayoral
candidate over another could spark so much
anger is clearly not the main reason.
This is about those who hold the public purse
in the name of the people and are refusing to
relinquish it to their rivals.
The ANC may have been correct in
parachuting Thoko Didiza, who comes with an
impeccable track record, as a compromise but
that clean slate does not matter in the eyes of
those at the bottom of the food chain.
A local ANC leader has said there would be
more protests as the "people's mayor" has
been dropped, South Africa's News24 website
reports.
The authorities have warned that perpetrators
of violence "will face the full might of the law".
Local elections are due in South Africa in
August, with the ANC under increasing
pressure over its handling of the economy and
accusations it has failed to tackle corruption.
