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Despite being portrayed as a vigilante group, a small Mpumalanga party has become the only one to dislodge the ANC from its wards in the province.
The Bushbuckridge Residents’ Association (BRA) retained the single ward it won from its maiden election participation in 2011 and added another four wards last week – doubling its seats from seven to 14 in the Bushbuckridge local municipality.
In the run-up to last week’s election, proactive canvassing by the BRA prompted Mpumalanga premier and ANC provincial chairperson David Mabuza to frequent the area daily during his campaign trail. He would fly into Bushbuckridge in his hired helicopter, in a bid to attract votes.
“We are breaking ground in the ANC’s traditional stronghold,” said the association’s secretary, Cleopas Maunye.
“People are changing their minds about voting for social grants.”
Delta Mokoena is president of the BRA, which is a splinter group of disgruntled ANC members. It was formed by Mokoena and others just before the 2011 municipal elections – after he and fellow ANC members were expelled from the party in 2010.
In the 2011 polls, the association caused an upset by winning ward 15 in Leroro and getting the seven seats.
Leroro has since been a no-go area for Mabuza.
He has been chased out of there in previous years, and last week was welcomed by fewer than 40 villagers while campaigning.
In the 2014 general elections, the association won one legislature seat from the Bushbuckridge votes alone.
Last week, the ANC still won the municipality by 69.46% (53 seats). The BRA clinched 18.09% (14 seats), the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) 5.55% (four seats) and the DA 3.01% (three seats).
Themba Godi, chair of Parliament’s Standard Committee on Public Accounts and leader of the African People’s Convention party, retained two of the three seats won in 2011 in the Bushbuckridge municipality with 3.7%.
Although the ANC won Mpumalanga by a 70.74% landslide last week, the party fell short of its 90% target. This is a drop from 78.03% overall in 2011.
The DA retained its second position in the province but also dropped from its 2011 score. It scored 12.86% in 2016 against 13.78% in 2011. The EFF got 9.42% in its first local polls. The BRA got 2.28% of the provincial vote, up from 1.18% in 2011.
However, it is not all good news for the association. Its members have been accused of setting up kangaroo courts and putting on trial residents accused of witchcraft, Satanism, theft and other offences.
The suspects would allegedly be subjected to torture and evicted from their homes. As a result, Mokoena, who is also a councillor in the Bushbuckridge municipality, has been frequenting court on charges laid against him by community members.
In one case, Mokoena faced a charge of allegedly torching 66-year-old Ranson Mashile’s house on accusations of practising witchcraft in Ga-Boelang village in 2012. And in 2014, Mokoena was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for intimidation, after evicting Aaron Zitha (49) from his home in 2010 because his son was a thief. He is appealing both sentences.
Maunye dismissed all allegations of vigilantism as a smear campaign by the ANC to weaken the organisation. “Even on Monday, they were alleging that we closed down voting stations … We did not. We only lodged complaints against corrupt IEC officials.”
Maunye added that the BRA was attracting votes outside Bushbuckridge – in Nkomazi (Malalane), Thaba Chweu (Mashishing) and Mbombela – and that this was a sign that it was growing.
Mpumalanga ANC secretary Mandla Ndlovu downplayed the BRA’s achievement, saying it meant nothing. “We are still in government and enjoying more support in the municipality.”
“I can only feel sorry for the wards they have won, because when services are not delivered, they will come back to the ANC to complain,” said Ndlovu.
The feat makes BRA the official opposition in Bushbuckridge, ahead of the DA and EFF – after its votes quadrupled from 11 000 in the 2011 local government elections to 46 390.
