The ANC’s actions in Tlokwe are very worrying for our future

The story of independence in Africa seems to run along similar lines: white oppression, local uprising, bitter-fighting, freedom, followed by corrupt officials, failure of the state, collapse of the democratic system. Being a proud South African I do not believe our story will be the same, but recent events have raised my concerns. Recently the African National Congress (ANC) Mayor in Tlokwe (previously Potchefstroom) was ousted for the second time. In a sitting of the council a vote of no-confidence was called for and the mayor was voted out unanimously by members of the council and the replacement was Prof Annette Combrink from the Democratic Alliance (DA). This has been seen as a major victory for the DA and a major embarrassment for the ANC. Through a democratic process a mayor was ousted and a new mayor put in place. 20 years on in our democracy this should not be a shock or something difficult to digest; this is democracy in action. However, when the new mayor and her team arrived at the mayoral office they were told they were not welcome, as the ex-mayor was not leaving. It turns out that the ANC, the ruling party in our country, have instructed the ousted mayor and his team not to vacate their positions. The ANC have blatantly ignored due-democratic process and obstructed the rule of law. This is an unbelievable disgrace, one for which the ANC should be ashamed and for which we should all be worried, and angry about. If this is how the central ANC acts over a small region like Tlokwe, I shudder to think how they would respond should they lose a national election. Elections are coming up soon, use your democratic voice and vote to ensure that our story of freedom is different to the rest of Africa.