Riots hit South African capital over mayoral candidate

The local townships of Atteridgeville and Mamelodi saw torched vehicles, burning tires, looted shops and barricaded roads overnight.

Violence broke out on Monday and Tuesday after the ANC named Member of Parliament Thoko Didiza as its mayoral candidate for Tshwane.

The unrest erupted late on Monday after factional disputes over the ruling African National Congress (ANC) choice for Pretoria mayor in the hotly-contested vote due on August 3.

Some ANC members in the city are said to be angry that current mayor Kgosientsho Ramokgopa was pushed aside in the nomination process.

Police are battling to quell violence that has broken out in the area around South Africa’s capital, Pretoria.

Zuma has in the past few months survived attempts to impeach him over allegations of corruption.

Duarte said this was a demonstration of the ANC’s commitment to strengthening the capacity of leadership at local government level across the board.

“We (are) calling on law enforcement agencies to ensure we get a grip on the situation”, said Ramokgopa, who is also the ANC Tshwane regional chairperson.

Residents want the incumbent mayor, Kgosientso Ramokgopa, to be allowed to stand on the ANC ticket, TV station eNCA reported, but in an interview with the 24-hour news channel, Ramokgopa backed Didiza’s selection and called for calm.

Provincial police say cases of murder, malicious damage to property and intimidation have been opened.

Since the decision to replace Ramokgopa, one person was shot dead and several others were wounded.

“We are saying to our fellow cadres that they should stay disciplined, rise above narrow squabbles and petty political differences, provide leadership, pu the ANC and our people above all these”.

But some protesters complained that although she lives in Pretoria she is an outsider as she hails from Durban, a port city in the east of the country.

“Government condemns in the strongest terms the outbreak of violence and destruction of property which has occurred in areas in the City of Tshwane”, said a statement issued early Tuesday by the Government Communication and Information Systems (GCIS).