ANC embroiled in Cape Town power struggle

From Alphonso Van Marsh
CNN

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNN) -- The once-banned political party that helped bring freedom to apartheid-era South Africa now stands accused of stifling democracy in that country's Mother City.

Helen Zille, the mayor of Cape Town, says the African National Congress (ANC) is trying to strip her of her power by replacing her mayoral executive council with a committee that could essentially give control of the city to the ANC.

"We are strongly opposing this attempt to seize power in Cape Town," Zille, a member of South Africa's Democratic Alliance (DA) party, says. "The biggest factor behind this power grab is a fear by the ANC that [our administration] will succeed.

"If we succeed in delivering to the poor better than the ANC was able to do, and run a corruption-free government -- that is the greatest risk to the ANC."

Zille comes to power after winning a March election by a slim margin. Her party cobbled together a political coalition that represents some 51 percent of the voters -- and effectively shut out the ANC. The longtime political powerhouse ANC, losing an election in a major South African city for the first time, went on the attack -- saying Zille's administration is now dismantling racial equality and affirmative action policies. The ANC also accuses the mayor of rearranging the city's districts and wards by race to favor whites.

"She seems to be bringing us back to the apartheid era," says ANC Provincial Secretary for the Western Cape Mcebisi Skwatsha, referring to South Africa's now-repealed Group Areas Act that assigned housing and work areas according to race.

The ANC is supporting a proposed amendment put forth by a Cape Town area provincial minister that would change how Cape Town is administered. The amendment calls for a multi-party committee to run the city -- critics say most of the seats would likely go to the ANC and its allies.

In a letter to Mayor Zille, Western Cape local government minister Richard Dyantyi cites that "the present type [of governance] does not allow for inclusive political processes," as reason to for the switch. Dyantyi -- who is an ANC member -- is empowered to make this decision alone.

The proposal is causing a political outcry over the ANC's commitment to democracy. The criticism comes not just from the Democratic Alliance but also the Independent Democratic party, which voted for the ANC's mayoral candidate in the original election.

"We are saying an emphatic 'no' to the ANC. We do not want the executive committee to be forced on Cape Town and we want Dyantyi to immediately stop the process," Independent Democratic leader Patricia de Lille told South Africa's The Star newspaper.

"The row is that what [Dyantyi] is suggesting goes against the will of the voters of Cape Town," says Aubrey Matshiqi, senior political analyst at the Centre for Policy Studies. "Whatever the motives are, the perception is that the ANC is unwilling to accept the democratic outcome of the election."

Matshiqi said the ANC has relied on so-called "black Africans" to vote in large numbers in elections nationwide, the ANC misjudged that so many non-black south Africans would vote for the Democratic Alliance in Cape Town's mayorial race.

"What is happening here is that the ANC is failing to recognize that it needs a different strategy to deal with Cape Town than the strategy it has used elsewhere in the country, where Africans are in the majority," she said.

Mayor Zille's office says that in this region known for fine wines, the now opposition ANC party simply has a case of sour grapes over its election defeat. The ANC says its push to change the mayoral system is not a threat to democracy.

"We don't understand why [the proposal] would cause problems. This move will make sure that the true meaning of democracy would prevail," the ANC's Skwatsha says.

The irony, the ANC's media office points out, is that prior to winning the election, the Democratic Alliance advocated for the very political change it's now fighting. The DA lists in its 2006 election manifesto: "The DA will use the executive committee system, not executive mayors, to govern cities. This will ensure that power is not centralized in a person and that all residents are represented in key decision-making bodies."

The perceived ANC power grab is grabbing the attention of South Africa's national ANC-led government. A "concerned" Minister for Provincial and Local Government, F.S. Mufamadi, has summoned Mayor Zille and Dyantyi to a meeting to discuss a "harmonious solution" to the power struggle.

If an agreement isn't reached, Zille says she's prepared to fight the proposal in South Africa's highest court.

"I would like people internationally to know that although this is a crisis and this is serious for democracy, I am sure we'll come through it in the right way. They say South Africans are amongst the only people in the world who read the writing on the wall only when their backs are up against it. I am sure this will be another such occasion," Zille says.

Minister Mufamadi, Zille and Dyantyi are scheduled to meet Wednesday.

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