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ANC presidential hopeful Jeff Radebe has called for the party’s branches to be allowed to vote for their choice of leader without interference.
Radebe was speaking in Douglas in the Northern Cape yesterday, when he addressed about 400 ANC members and supporters.
City Press learnt that regional party leaders had discouraged members from attending the event.
This was apparently because the ANC in the province had taken the decision to support deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa as its presidential nominee.
ANC members received messages last week warning them to stay away from the meeting, although he did draw a reasonable crowd.
Radebe told the crowd: “Don’t allow your powers to be usurped by others, including leaders of the ANC. Elect whomever you prefer.
“You should not allow slates to be imposed on you. Decide consciously who you want. Don’t allow others to choose for you. The ball is in your hands. Do the right thing.”
Radebe was speaking a few minutes before a local branch general meeting was due to take place, in which nominations were to be made.
Radebe stopped short of asking members to nominate him. But several local leaders told the crowd about his long history in the party, his condemnation of slates and belief in unity.
Radebe said he was shocked by the levels of poverty in the township.
He pledged to send government officials to come and address the burning issues of water and electricity in the impoverished township.
Radebe had not published a slate or list of his preferred top six leaders to work with him because he believed slates were responsible for the decline of the party.
Officials working with him said Radebe had been invited by other branches in the Northern Cape to come and address them.
A local branch member, Dorothy Seneo, said the ANC was divided and needed someone like Radebe, who did not belong to any of the factions, to unite it.
