ANC’s new leaders set ball rolling
Change to ensure party is on right path, says chair
WHILE the ANC faces challenges that have made some people want to abandon the party, the winds of positive change are being felt in the new national leadership led by party president Cyril Ramaphosa.
These were the words of ANC provincial chairman Oscar Mabuyane at the funeral of former ANC MP and Border Rugby Union John Ncinane at the Victoria Grounds stadium in King William’s Town on Saturday. Mabuyane, fresh from the national executive committee meeting held on Thursday and Friday in Irene, Pretoria – said the ANC was the party of reverends, traditional leaders and “a party of Christ”.
“The ANC has been placed on holy ground by the people of South Africa. As leadership of the ANC we must respect that ground. The ANC is the only hope the people of SA have,” Mabuyane said. “The ANC never goes off track but the driver does. So when the driver goes off track, we remove that driver and get a new driver and the ANC continues on its course,” he said to applause.
He sits on the NEC with ex-officio status by virtue of being the provincial chairman together with secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi. Mabuyane said ANC deployees, including councillors and MPLs, had to give scorecards when they spoke to the people about the things the ANC had done to change their lives.
Mabuyane said more than R100billion had been given to the provincial government from national government, with 80% of that money going to salaries.
“With so much money why can’t we turn the Eastern Cape into a Gauteng? As the ANC leaders we must find ways to create jobs. Let’s look into the ocean economy because 800km of the 2 000km coastal line is in the Eastern Cape,” he said.
There must be something wrong, Mabuyane said, if land is not used for agricultural purposes. “At the NEC meeting we agreed we need to get things right with Eskom otherwise there will be no industries. We also agreed to deal with corruption decisively,” he said.
Among those present were Sascoc president Gideon Sam, former ANC NEC member and COPE founding member Mluleki George and suspended ANC regional secretary in Dr WB Rubusana Phumlani Mkolo. NDZ staunch supporter and Amathole regional secretary Teris Ntuthu and Sport and Recreation Minister Thulas Nxesi were also in attendance.
Taking to the podium, Nxesi said Ncinane always said things people were afraid to say. He said one of the best qualities about Ncinane was that he knew how to position himself.
“He would stand and speak and make you think he was speaking on behalf of a huge number of people and that you would be in danger if you didn’t support him,” Nxesi said.
He said Ncinane had been a champion of unity in sport and that he always worked for his community and the ANC. “When we are deployed we must know we are there to represent the people; not to loot for ourselves and families. One question we have to ask ourselves is ‘are we building or destroying the nation,’” he said.