He said Govan Mbeki is plunged into financial crisis due to lack of vision and the culture of wanting to live lavishly at the people’s expense, a culture he says was created by the elders who don’t want to give space to others.
Govan Mbeki ANCYL’s Gracious Shabangu has said the time for the elder to leave the baton to the youth has come.
Shabangu told 013NEWS on the sidelines of their door-to-door campaign in eMbalenhle a week ago that the ANC in the sub-region is “privatised”.
He said the party now belongs to only those who make money through its power as a governing movement.
“As hard as it is, we will take the ANC back to people,” he said.
ALSO SEE: David Mabuza’s Mpumalanga detractors accused of rushing to power in order to enrich themselves
He said the door-to-door campaign is part of their strategy as one people in the area “take back the ANC to its people” – listening to the cries of people and positioning the party towards assisting to the poor.
“People are not even allowed to join the ANC in this sub-region. When you join the ANC is as if you are taking someone’s food,” Shabangu said.
Govan Mbeki is firmly in the hands of REC member Ethel Nkosi and former mayor Thandi Ngxonono who were both implicated in a forensic investigation report released late last year by the department of cooperative governance.
ALSO SEE: Man known by Thandi Ngxonono is employed as municipal supervisor without matric
The report found that Nkosi and Ngxonono were engaged in nepotism and corruption, telling municipal officials who to hire as staff member and which tenderpreneur not give work to.
They would then make money through kickbacks from the hired tenderprenuers. Ngxonono resigned as mayor soon after the report was released but was then inserted as the new MMC of planning in new mayor Nhlakanipho Zuma’s cabinet.
ALSO SEE: Thandi Ngxonono wanted municipal manager to contravene finance management act
Shabangu said they are totally opposed to the manner in which the two powerful women have plunged the Govan Mbeki municipality into crisis, where services to people have ground to halt.
He accused them of playing a part in the killing of the ANC, making people to become fed up with how the ANC in the area runs society.
“That’s why as young people we are now coming out to take charge. We can’t be sitting back and watch things deteriorate,” Shabangu said.
He added that they are going to support former ANCYL REC member Jabu Zwane as the new mayor of Govan Mbeki when local government elections are held later this year.
“If we vote for old people we are voting for people who are leading our society to the graves,” he said when he addressed people at the Nelson Mandela settlement – an area plagued by poverty and poor service delivery.
“We want the journalists to take photos of the people of this area and send them to those in the region and ask them how do they feel if people are poor like this while they drive big cars at the expense of these people,” he said, referring to the leadership of regional chairman Muzi Chirwa.
He said they will support Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane to take charge as the ANC provincial chairperson when a congress is held before June 2021.
He said for the position of Gert Sibande chairperson they lean towards Chief Albert Luthuli municipal speaker Walter Mngomezulu than towards Mkhondo mayor Vusi ‘Sgemegeme’ Motha though they haven’t held talks with anyone of them.
“Comrade Walter is disciplined though we haven’t held talks with him or comrade Sgemegeme. Our views will be determined by dynamics and circumstances moving to conference but we will not support people who don’t take care of young people, people who think they own the ANC and nobody else should participate. We will not support those,” Shabangu said.
(edited by ZK)
Send tip-offs to editor@013.co.za
