Mantashe in ANC no-show

Excited local ANC supporters eager to meet Gwede Mantashe - expected to deliver the Chris Hani Memorial Lecture in Grahamstown on Wednesday – had no choice but to settle for a provincial leader after the party's national secretary general failed to arrive.

ANC supporters packed the BB Zondani community hall in Fingo Village hours before Mantashe was due, including a large contingent of local, regional and provincial ANC leaders.

The hall was a hive of activity inside and outside as supporters sang and danced in anticipation of seeing the charismatic leader.

Some played music in their cars to keep the eager ANC supporters entertained as they awaited Mantashe.

However, when it came to the business of the day the party's regional deputy chairperson Phindile Faxi was able to let the masses down easy.

Faxi started his address by apologising for the absence of regional chairperson Mlungisi Mvoko, who could not attend due to personal and professional reasons. Faxi, standing in for Mvoko said the Sarah Baartman region leadership had a duty to facilitate public lectures in its sub-regions.

The Ndlambe sub-region had the Solomon Mahlangu memorial lecture, and the OR Tambo memorial lecture in Kouga.

Faxi said the initiative was to encourage residents of Ma- kana to join the ANC in Port Elizabeth on 16 April, when the president of the country and the ANC, Jacob Zuma, would launch the party's manifesto.

Speaking about Hani, Faxi said he had exercised discipline in the ANC – a thorny issue in the party these days.

“Comrade Mantashe was supposed to come and address you here, but because of the business of the leaders of the ANC he couldn't be here,” he said.

ANC regional deputy secretary Yandisa Vara introduced Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) member Mncedisi Nontsele as the keynote speaker.

Nontsele is a former mayor of Lukhanji Municipality and the convenor of the ANC re- gional task team in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.

Hani spent a lot of time in Grahamstown, Nontsele said, and always made it a point to stay in the township.

Hani as a leader stood out as a freedom fighter, a courageous, grounded visionary, a conscious activist, an organic intellectual and an African communist, Nontsele said.

“He remains a shining example of what we mean when we talk about a genuine and a true revolutionary. He is the best embodiment of the finest traditions and principles of our liberation movement.”

Hani was born to a working class family in Cofimvaba. He was assassinated on 10 April 1993 outside his home in Dawn Park, Boksburg.

Nontsele pointed out that Hani was a member of the ANC, which he says is unrecorded.

“He became the deputy general secretary of the party in 1975... When he was brutally murdered, comrade Chris was serving as the general secretary of the party,” he said.

Nontsele said because South Africa exports raw materials, the country continues to rely on volatile international commodity markets. That, he said, was why the value of the rand was declining.

“It's not because of what the President has said. You can change presidents as much as you want: it won't change anything,” he said.

Chaos broke out when the party decided to hand out ANC branded T-shirts just be- fore regional secretary Scara Njadayi took the podium. Leaders had to plead with the audience to quieten down as they scrambled for the free shirts.

When Njadayi finally took the stand, he sent the hall into a frenzy, leading them in song.

In a robust address, Njadayi hit the campaign trail, taking a swipe at opposition parties who reportedly use SMSes to campaign.

“We are not depending on SMSes sent to people. We are not an organisation of SMSes,” he said.

Njadayi told the excited crowd that Zuma had pronounced that the Local Government Elections will take place on 3 August.