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Danny Jordaan not demoted, but rather promoted: ANC


PORT ELIZABETH, October 3 (ANA)- The African National Congress (ANC) in Nelson Mandela Bay on Monday said that former mayor Danny Jordaan has not been demoted but rather “promoted” to do election work following his resignation as the party’s leader.

The next local government election will take place in 2019.

Jordaan was not present at the media briefing where the party officially announced that Jordaan had tendered his resignation and would be assigned to a new role outside the council. Jordaan’s deputy Bicks Ndoni, will take on the role as party leader for Nelson Mandela Bay with immediate effect.

Ndoni said that after the elections there were discussions that officials needed to be redeployed.

“He did not resign on his own accord, there were discussions and finally there was a decision that he must rather resign and concentrate on what he has been assigned to do,” said Ndoni.

When asked what Jordaan’s specific duties would entail, Ndoni said that his role would include “focusing solely on elections” and this formed part of a permanent strategy.

ANC Regional Task Team co-ordinator, Bheza Ntshona, said that following the ANC’s consultative conference last month a collective decision was made that Jordaan and a team would focus on drumming up support in the city’s northern areas following the party’s dismal performance at the polls.

“We have agreed that while we will be intensifying our efforts in our own traditional areas, we do need a team that will focus on the northern area’s. After reviewing our strategy we felt that comrade Danny Jordaan must be released to assume those responsibilities,” said Ntshona.

Responding to a myriad of questions on Jordaan’s resignation and absenteeism at council meetings, ANC Chief Whip Litho Suka, quickly came to the former mayor’s defence and said Jordaan was not “unfaithful or ill-disciplined” to the ANC. He added that Jordaan was still a loyal member of the party who had served his “purpose” in council.

Jordaan, was announced as leader of the opposition in council at a media briefing held at the ANC regional office in August. Jordaan was not present at the briefing.

Following the ANC’s loss to the Democratic Alliance-led coalition in metro in the local government elections, Jordaan has been a no-show.

The ANC previously said that he was on sick leave.

Jordaan has since failed to show up for any council meetings and was also not present at the ANC’s consultative conference which took place in Port Elizabeth last month.

Jordaan, the president of the South African Football Association, was deployed by the ANC to Nelson Mandela Bay in June last year to serve as executive mayor after the regional executive committee disbanded in January the same year.

But the DA took control of the province with 47 percent of the vote in the municipal elections and Jordaan lost the mayoral race to Athol Trollip.

The ANC said it was not in position to comment around reports which stated Jordaan had attended several Safa meetings in Johannesburg but was however at the time cited as ill by the ANC in Port Elizabeth.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane, during his election trail in Port Elizabeth in August, told party supporters and residents that Jordaan didn’t have their interests at heart and that if he lost, he would resign and go back to his other job at Safa.

On Jordaan’s absenteeism at the media briefing on Monday, the ANC said Jordaan had been “deployed elsewhere”.

– African News Agency (ANA)