He said it was so important that a principled leader like Mahlalela is realised as somebody who can solve today’s problems.
Ermelo based ANC leader and REC member Bongani Phakathi is currently mobilising branches to come support PEC member Fish Mahlalela for the position of provincial chair, saying only a principled leader like Mahlalela can restore lost dignity and be a beacon of hope for an ailing ANC
Phakathi said “you do not look at a leader and say because I love him or her I will then vote for that leader but you look at what is it that that particular leader stands for”.
He told the 013NEWS reporter that today’s challenges demand somebody who is politically strong, “somebody who is also strong governmentally and administratively”.
He said: “You got to look at a leader and start by asking yourself what is it that they stand for, their track record and what is it that they can do for people”.
The Mahlalela slate has Phakathi as provincial secretary, acting chairman Mandla Ndlovu as deputy chair, acting secretary Lindiwe Ntshalitshali to retain her post of deputy secretary while Nkangala leader Speedy Mashilo serves as treasurer.
Phakathi said the immediate task now is to restore the dignity of the ANC, especially as the party prepares for 2021’s local government elections.
‘We need an ANC that stays with its people and not a corrupt ANC that people think of, an ANC that is busy stealing money from municipalities. I mean if you go to our Gert Sibande district municipality, the local municipalities falling under this district, all of them they are in state of shame and none has achieved a clean audit in the past 5 years,” Phakathi said when he spoke to the reporter.
Mpumalanga is currently hit by issues of severe factionalism that sees comrades seriously turning on each other. The party is preparing to go to an elective congress probably in March 2020.
Amongst the contestants for the position of chairperson is Ndlovu, Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane and now Mahlalela.
The Tsipane slate features her as chairperson while provincial treasurer Vusi Shongwe is punted as her deputy. PEC member Pat Ngomane is mentioned as the secretary and spokesperson Sasekani Manzini as deputy secretary while the position of treasurer remains under discussions.
Phakathi said branches of the ANC can put you in any position but what was important was whether that particular person will be able to gain the confidence of the people.
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“You may have a situation where you can win a conference of the ANC but lose the ordinary people who put the ANC into government because in the ANC you are able to manipulate processes in the branches and give people money to vote for you, but will that translate into a vote of confidence on the people themselves?” said Phakathi.
Phakathi said if the ANC was to today claim that it was indeed the leader of society it needed to present itself as exactly that, through the credible candidates it puts forward.
“I mean the ANC gets more than 10 million votes while it has less than 1 million members. Ask yourself this, who are these 9 million people that vote for us? So you need a person who will make the ordinary people to gain trust in the ANC,” he said.
He added the reason the people have lost trust in the ANC is because “we are not able to deliver services and that brings us back to the people we put in government. We are also not able to deal decisively with those who are busy corrupting the state and that is the result of the kind of corrupt leaders that we put to lead our movement”.
(edited by ZK)
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