The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) national executive

committee meeting yesterday saluted the ANC’s decisive victory in the local government

elections.

But, it also frowned at the ANC voting losses suffered in the Cape Town metropolitan

council.

In its assessment of the role played by organized metalworkers in the recent local

government elections campaigns, NUMSA NEC also noted with dismay the challenges

that had emerged in the Western Cape, particularly in Cape Town.

NUMSA general secretary, Silumko Nondwangu said the manner in which the

Democratic Alliance ran its campaign and particularly the posters suggesting that “Take

back your city” sought to engender hatred and racism in the elections.

The outcome of the elections which saw DA scoring the highest votes was premised on

the racial polarization of the province, the NEC observed. “We do not view this outcome

therefore as an expression o the will of the people in the province but the exploitation of

the fears that existed and used during the campaign. A DA victory in Cape Town does

not represent a movement forward for the people of the city but a subtle entrenchment of

white racial privilege,” He also said in the statement.

The NEC condemned in strongest terms the tactics used by DA in the election in trying to

instill racial divisions amongst people. “We will work closely with Coast, ANC and

SACP in the province to develop an educational programmed on the demon of racism and

the need to fight against in all forms of manifestations,” he said.

This will be done, to ensure that the socio-economic transformation in the province is not

reversed and benefited the whole population and not the minority elite.

NUMSA is set to conduct a series of meetings and workshops in the province as part of

the labor contribution in order to deal with racial divisions caused within our

constituencies, the NEC further resolved.

“We noted that the ANC victory presents to the alliance momentous challenges with

regards to service delivery and accountability of councilors. We will impress upon the

ANC through the federation that it deals with issues raised by our people, in particular a

review of the list of process for future elections and the tensions caused by the re-

demarcation process,” the statement said.

ANC alone has the political commitment to deal with these socio-economic challenges in

the country and it should not fail people, including Merafong and other local authorities

in this regard.

The union also expressed confidence that the ANC had history of representing the

interests of the poor and working class and therefore has the political will to meet these

challenges.

It decried, however conflicts and internal fights over leadership positions in the Western

Cape. The ANC general secretary Kgalema Motlanthe also buttressed NUMSA

sentiments in this regard when he observed that in many branches there were no

sustainable political programmes and community campaigns.

Motlanthe had earlier noted that some branches were conflict ridden and unstable because

they were fraught with fights over deployment of councilors, tendering and control of

projects.

The ANC and its alliance partners’ central challenge is to address the problems brought

about by susceptibility to moral decay occasioned by the struggle for control of and

access to resources.

For more information contact:

Mziwakhe Hlangani, NUMSA national information officer

Mobile: 083 7293374.

E-mail address: mziwakheh@numsa.org.za