Former BCM speaker Luleka Simon-ndzele joins MK party
Addition of Simon-ndzele seen as major boost for new movement ahead of elections
Former Buffalo City Metro council speaker Luleka Simonndzele has jumped ship to the newly formed umkhonto wesizwe (MK) party.
The move is seen as a major boost for MK because she is a seasoned politician who spent many years in the ruling ANC, which deployed her to council.
MK this week announced Simon-ndzele as its provincial elections co-ordinator when the party unveiled its interim provincial and regional structures.
She said she was optimistic about the latest development in her political career.
“Indeed, I can confirm that I’m a member of umkhonto wesizwe now,” she said.
“I have decided to go and join MK and I think I am comfortable and happy to join MK.”
Simon-ndzele reckoned that her experience would come in handy in her new political home.
She explained why she had decided to leave the ANC, insisting that her focus was on ensuring MK made its mark.
“In MK there’s an open-door policy, where they recruit people,” she said.
“With all the political history and experience, I can make changes and be more influential because I have the potential to lead.”
According to Simon-ndzele, the issues of land, poverty, high unemployment, health and education would be among MK’S priorities.
She said the spatial planning of municipalities was under scrutiny.
“It needs [to be reviewed] because you can’t build houses without land,” she said.
“Without land, you can’t have agriculture or work the land.
“Buffalo City only owns 4% of the land and the rest is privately owned.
“This is a critical issue.” Simon-ndzele said economic transformation would also be top of MK’S agenda.
“We have a challenge of unemployment and poverty; how do you address that?
“These are the issues [MK will tackle].
“The majority of community members are unemployed.
“A number of companies in Buffalo City alone are closing down.”
Simon-ndezele declined to elaborate on how the party would tackle the issues, referring further questions to provincial co-ordinator Sobantu Luhabe “protocols”.
Another former BCM ANC councillor, Nozizwe Otola, is among the new faces in the party and has been named as the BCM regional convener.
Otola said she had taken a decision to join MK party "due to reasons known to myself which I am not prepared to talk about".
"It is water under the bridge," she said.
"I have moved on with no grudges, anger, bitterness etc."
Otola said she had found herself a new home and not intending to say any bad things about the ANC and its leaders.
"We live in a democratic country that promotes freedom of association," she said.
Former EFF Eastern Cape leader and MPL Themba Wele, who has been providing guidance to other volunteers, is the party’s BCM regional co-ordinator. Wele had previously told of his ambitions to wrestle the metro from the ANC, capitalising on the ruling party’s service delivery failures.
“We are still going to deploy many more leaders as elections managers in these regions.
“All our manpower is meant to take us to the elections.
“No structures or deployments are permanent, these are all interim appointments by myself and the provincial coordinator, Sobantu Luhabe.
“I can safely say the MK party is now running second to the ANC in the Eastern Cape and by the time we vote, we will most probably come first,” he claimed. Unemployed Workers Union Kubukile said ANC members Eastern Cape chair Vuyani were leaving their party in large Ntusi has been deployed as sector numbers. co-ordinator for the Buffalo He claimed there were areas City region. where an ANC branch secretary
Ntusi is responsible for mobilising “just called a meeting and the all sectors of society, whole register was literally including “ignored” stakeholders transferred to the MK party”. like the unemployed, hawkers, “Senior ANC deployees, MPS taxi associations and retail and MPLS who have approached workers. us prefer to wait until
Siphumle Tyumre and the end of the term before they Mawande Ndakisa are OR Tambo announce their membership,” regional convener and coordinator he said. respectively. “In isixhosa we say, ‘balele
The party has only announced ngesisu’ [loosely translated to the appointment of ‘lying low’]. regional conveners and co-ordinators “I predict that after the 2024 in its BCM, OR Tambo elections, municipalities will and Nelson Mandela Bay regions. just collapse, because most of the ANC leaders will be unemployed
On Tuesday, provincial convener or will lose their government Pumlani Kubukeli said deployment positions the interim structures were for and infighting will be on the co-ordinating party volunteers rise.” because of the rapid growth of The MK party will announce the MK party in the province its interim leadership for Alfred and in preparation for the 2024 Nzo, Chris Hani, Sarah Baartman, elections. Joe Gqabi and Amathole
Kubukeli said the elections next week. were a project on their own. On Sunday, the province will
“That is why we are tapping host former president Jacob Zuma, on the experience of Luleka who is the face of the party, Ndzele, whom we have deployed in Flagstaff. in a similar position as He will visit the Amampondo the one she used to be in in the kingdom and MK volunteers in ANC since 1994,” he said. the Amampondo regions.