The party has already been registered.
eMalahleni businessman Themba ‘Masofa’ Sgudla has roped in a local traditional leader to register a political party ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The party will focus on giving back power to chiefs and kings, Sgudla said over the phone Thursday morning and is called Sancota or ‘South African National Congress of Traditional Authorities’.
“We believe that Sancota will endorse the will of the people because chiefs will never change and will never run away from where they are,” Sgudla said.
Chief Bhekumuzi Mantjolo Mnisi of Enkonjaneni Royal Kraal near Badplaas will lead Sancota as President and Sgudla will remain President of his organisation the Practical Radical Economic Transformation (PRET) which will become Sancota’s “alliance partner”.
In that way, Sgudla will serve in Sancota’s executive as a leader of an alliance structure.
He told 013NEWS that Sancota will be officially launched in few weeks time here in Mpumalanga.
He said Sancota is about getting “traditional leaders to get their rightful positions and run government”.
“We want Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga,” Sgudla said.
Other chiefs across these provinces will serve in Sancota’s executive committee.
“Remember that Mpumalanga is a rural province and most of us here we fall under traditional authorities. So we are in.
“And these have always been the authorities of the people for many, many years before we even thought about democracy. Now we say power to traditional authority,” said Sgudla.
This is the second time Sgudla hints on the idea of contesting elections.
Early last year, just few months after the election of his friend DD Mabuza as the deputy president of the ANC, Sgudla publicly declared he was now leaving the ANC and was going to contest the 2019 general elections through his non-profit organisation PRET because Mabuza had “abandoned Unity”.
SEE HERE: Themba Sgudla threatens to leave ANC
But later on, a meeting between Sgudla and ANC provincial acting leader Mandla Ndlovu resulted in him withdrawing his decision to contest.
ALSO RELATED: ‘Fruitful’ meeting between Ndlovu, Sgudla results in PRET withdrawing to contest
He was accusing the ANC government in the province of now refusing to implement the Memorandum of Agreement his organisation signed with the Mpumalanga government.
He also said he was fed up with the ANC because it was refusing to economically empower the youth and Mabuza had left behind very “arrogant” leaders who were refusing to work with PRET.
The war ended and PRET later promised they would now be “biased” to the ANC.
He says at Sancota they are looking at a programme called ‘RRD’ or ‘Radical Rural Development’ which will focus power and services to the people.
“As PRET we will bring our support to Sancota as we did to the ANC but we have realised that the ANC has failed us on various issues, like the rising unemployment,” he said.
(edited by ZK)
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