ANC nominates Masualle again

PROVINCIAL ANC chairman Phumulo Masualle's reelection will be confirmed today as he was nominated unopposed last night.

Branch delegates started nominating candidates just after 7pm following the adoption of credentials.

This is the first time the credentails process was finalised so quickly.

The delegates nominated Dingaan Myolwa and Sakhumzi Somyo for the position of deputy chairman, Oscar Mabuyane and Michael Peter for the secretary position, Ten-Ten Pikinini and Helen Sauls-August for the position of deputy secretary, Thandiswa Marawu and Zukisa Faku for the position of treasurer.

Earlier the party’s national secretaryGwede Mantashe, called on the ANC to take drastic action to fix the state of health and education inthe province.

Mantashe said he had first-hand experience of the health department’s disarray, and said it had gotten “out of hand”.

Referring to his experience, Mantashe said he had been bitten by a dog and to avoid suffering from rabbis, he rushed to a nearby clinic.

“I went to a nearby clinic and received an injection but there was no Panado [for the pain].

“In another instance I went to another state-of-the-art hospital, Cala Hospital, and there was no X-ray. We should not be taken to court and be told by the court that we must have facilities in our public health system.

“We must repair our equipment. We must maintain our equipment,” he said.

The education department, along with the Limpopo education department, also had to face court action for failing to provide basic necessities such as books in Limpopo, and enough schools in the Eastern Cape.

“We must not wait for Section 27 [the NGO behind the legal action] to take us to court and tell us to do so. It should be in us to know that this is what should happen and we should do it,” said Mantashe.

It was also revealed that the ANC in the province has been battling to retain its status as the biggest province in the party.

Mantashe said this affected the province’s influence in national politics.

“I have a feeling that there is membership that is in the boots as a result that membership that is in the boot of cars reduce the number in the province and consequentially reduces the influence of the Eastern Cape in national politics,” said Mantashe.

“In politics, size counts.”