I will leave Letfu Sonkhe for PUDEMO presidency - Mandla
MBABANE – 38D(M2 stalwart Mandla Hlatshwayo has revealed that he will leave his current position at /etfu 6onkhe ,nstitute for 6trategic 7hinking and Development if he gets elected as 38D(M2 3resident.
38D(M2 stands for 3eople¶s 8nited Democratic Movement. Hlatshwayo is a candidate for the position of 3resident of the political party and will be facing the incumbent Mlungisi Makhanya. 38D(M2 is expected to host its elective congress on )riday )ebruary 2 to 2 , 202 .
Hlatshwayo holds the position of &hairman at /etfu 6onkhe and he is among the founding members of 38D(M2. He has been hailed as the strongest candidate to take over the leadership baton from Makhanya, who was elected into office four years ago.
“,t is indeed true that , have been nominated by some branches to be part of the leadership collective to be considered for elections at the upcoming 38D(M2 &ongress. ,f elected , hope to use my many years of experience in running large organisations to strengthen the broad based operations of the organisation to effectively wage the struggle for democratic reforms and the restoration of the political and economic rights to the entire population. My role at /etfu 6onkhe will of course, come to an end if elected into the leadership of 38D(M2,” confirmed Hlatshwayo.
He emphasised that the political party was guided by its internal, democratic regulations ahead of the congress and, therefore, the branches were the ones mandated to decide on who would hold office in the next year.
He mentioned that if the branches elect him into leadership, he would make sure that he galvanise an emphatic fight against the exclusion of ema6wati from the benefits of the economy and land resources. He further stated that he would fight for
EMPHASISED
the restoration of political rights for the people.
“We owe it to all future generations to stop the destruction of our country. When you listen to senior officials speaking, you are left in no doubt that the solutions to our problems will be brought about by the combined mass power of the people, supported by the region and the international community to force radical changes in the governance of the country.
OPPORTUNITIES
“,t is, therefore, not a matter of choice, like all citizens in the country, , want my children and their children to leave in a better country that guarantees a better quality of life, better opportunities of development and safe environment for their security and general welfare. 7hat is the driving force behind the struggle,” he said.
He added that 38D(M2 was a mature and confident entity, which was guided by a constitution and had accumulated a wealth of internal policy thinking and formulations on how to develop the country. He said the political party had a properly elected 1ational (xecutive &ommittee 1(& and had no confusion regarding the management of its party affairs.
Hlatshwayo further stated that the assassination of Human 5ights /awyer 7hulani Maseko represented the highest escalation of the violence since the -une 202 massacre. He encouraged the political party to answer the assassins by the intensification of the struggle inside the country, in the region and the international community.
“7his will require building organisational capacity and broad levels of leadership inside and outside the country to red-flag the system of governance all over the world. 7he use of violence against ema6wati instead of dialogue can only succeed in hardening attitudes and entrenching irreparable negative attitudes towards the current leadership,” said Hlatshwayo.
DEMONSTRATED
Hlatshwayo said the mass democratic novement MDM under the leadership of Maseko, demonstrated to the country, the region and the international community that political dialogue and negotiations was the only viable way of resolving the current political impasse.
6peaking on the upcoming national elections, Hlatshwayo said the future of the country was not in electing new leadership, but would only be crafted after an all inclusive dialogue was held.
“7he 202 elections will not resolve the maMor challenges our country and those that the people are facing. 1o meaningful development can take place in an environment dominated by conflict. We still call for dialogue to be prioritised so that the fundamental political question can be raised and the conflict be resolved first,” he stated.
When quizzed on how he anticipated leading one of the country¶s leading political parties while leaving outside (swatini, Hlatshwayo said throughout the period of the liberation struggle of $frica from colonialists and despots, successful liberation movements operated from outside their countries.
He said there was nothing unique about 38D(M2 leadership building strong external leadership capacity to support the internal leadership.
“/eadership in 38D(M2 is a collective. ,t is never a one man or one woman show. 8nlike other parties, in 38D(M2 we work as collective machinery. $ leader with progressive dreams for the country wants unity, dialogue, peace, investments and wants to give hope to the youth that challenges will be addressed and temporary darkness will pass. , am hoping that 38D(M2 and its leadership will galvanise and unite society to reclaim our collective rights to self-determination,” he added.
INCEPTION
He said he Moined the organisation at its inception almost 0 years ago and remained convinced that it was a party with tried and tested credentials to wage the struggle for radical democratic reforms in the country.
“2ver the past 0 years, , have seen much poorer nations with less opportunities than us but determined to do the right thing, invest in education, support skills development and empowerment of the youth, invest in basic service delivery, quality education, schools, colleges, hospitals, development infrastructure, fight corruption and build security services institutions that are at the service of every citizen. 7hese countries today are far richer
than our country and their people are living a higher quality of life than 6waziland (swatini . (nough is enough with this merry go round,” he said.
$n attempt to get a comment from current 3resident Makhanya failed as he could not respond to our questionnaire, which was sent to him last week. 6ecretary *eneral Wandile Dludlu confirmed that the congress would be held next weekend.
DETAILS
He referred details to electoral officer Muzi Masuku who said he was yet to have a debrief with the secretariat of the organisation and would confirm the details of other candidates at a later stage.
38D(M2 remains a proscribed entity in country after it was banned by government and listed as a terrorist group in 200 .
Unlike other parties, in PUDEMO we work as a collective machinery. A leader with progressive dreams for the country wants unity, dialogue, peace, investments and wants to give hope to the youth that challenges will be addressed and temporary darkness will pass.”