From halls of politics to ploughing
MPLs leaving Bhisho turn to farming and business
LIFE after losing a seat in parliament can be daunting for some. Take the case of former O R Tambo mayor Dingaan Myolwa. Since leaving frontrow politics as a Bhisho MPL, he now spends his days herding cattle and growing maize in his father’s fields which are scattered across the valleys near Lusikisi.
Even though he is still ANC deputy regional chairman of the party’s biggest region, O R Tambo, he says he is bitter that he was fooled into believing his comrades had bigger plans for him when they deployed him to the Bhisho legislature. Myolwa was one of five Eastern Cape mayors redeployed after the Mangaung elective conference when President Jacob Zuma’s team fixed the province’s “hot spots”.
“I was in Bhisho as an MPL for just four months. So whoever sent me there so close to the end of the term knew what he was doing.
“But I’m not angry at anyone. No one is entitled to be deployed anywhere when they join the ANC.
“Fortunately, my father left me these mealie fields. I’ll continue working them in order to feed my family, and take care of my herd of cattle. Life goes on,” said Myolwa.
While the once-staunch Zuma supporter has opted for farming, other Bhisho MPLs have ventured into business.
Last term’s leader of opposition parties in Bhisho, COPE’s Mbulelo Ntenjwa, as well as the DA’s John Cupido, are two such examples.
Cupido surprised East Londoners in 2009 when he chose politics over his family’s successful perfume business. But yesterday he said he was eager to go back to business.
Cupido was No 15 in the DA’s list to Bhisho. Only the top 10 made the cut.
But he said his five years in Bhisho were not a waste of time as his exposure to governance helped him identify gaps which made him start two new business ventures in information technology (IT).
“I am currently in the process of launching three businesses, two in analytical IT solutions and one in perfume.
“I have a strong background in the IT and business sectors from before I entered politics,” Cupido said.
One of the IT companies, Cupidata Interactive, will be his main focus. “I have also been nominated to return to my old seat on the executive of the Border-Kei Chamber of Business, where I intend to use my knowledge and experience in parliament to help bring business and government together,” he said.
COPE’s Ntenjwa has also decided to go the entrepreneurship route. He told the Saturday Dispatch yesterday that as someone who did not have much experience in business, he had opted to try a franchise, details of which remain confidential.
“One must not forget that a man needs to have an income,” Ntenjwa said. — zineg@disptch.co.za / mphumziz@disptch.co.za