Troubled Tembu king wants to join the DA
Mandela’s cousin slams ‘corrupt’ ANC leaders
TEMBU King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo is set to join the DA, he told the Sunday Times yesterday.
Dalindyebo is the head of the Tembu Royal House, under whose jurisdiction the Mandela family falls.
In an interview at the Bumbane Great Place, near Mthatha, he said the ANC had lost its way, and had pushed corrupt leaders to the top.
A vociferous critic of President Jacob Zuma, the outspoken king said he had informed DA leaders Helen Zille and Athol Trollip about his intention to join the party.
His decision will be communicated to the chiefs that fall under him at a meeting next week. He also plans to campaign for the DA in next year’s elections.
He was not sure how his nation would react to news of his plan to join the DA.
“Their reaction is something I desire to see because sometimes you can mistake yourself, thinking you have a following, when you have absolutely none,” he said.
The Dalindyebos are a prominent royal family with a deep history in the ANC. They are cousins to the Mandelas and the Matanzimas, both respected traditional powers in the Transkei.
Four years ago Dalindyebo was found guilty of culpable homicide, kidnapping, arson and assault by the High Court in Mthatha, following the death of a villager. He is appealing his conviction and faces 15 years in jail if his appeal fails.
“I’ve decided I need a new political home,” said Dalindyebo. He said he had been victimised by ANC leaders who attacked him publicly and frustrated his reign.
“You are met with a lot of arrogant and brutal attacks,
We are standing on sand that is disappearing beneath our feet
where there’s no one to intervene because of the confusion in the organisation,” he said.
He was scathing in his criticism of Zuma, who he said discredited the ANC and the presidency. The Zuma family business interests were “blatant” and questionable.
Corruption was endemic in all sectors of society, and that would lead to a dysfunctional South Africa, he said.
He said South Africa was sinking to new lows under Zuma’s leadership. “Things are crumbling: we are standing on sand that is disappearing beneath our feet.”
It was an irony that the ANC was led by “narrow minds — very negligent species who are meant to give ultimate care to our baby democracy”. He said the ANC’s dominance posed a threat to democracy.
“The domination [of the ANC] does amount to a one-partystate environment.” He said South Africa needed a strong opposition, with a “realistic chance” at power.
He said he would use next week’s meeting to announce plans of “divorcing myself” from government recognition.
He wants the Tembu nation to ultimately run its own affairs, independent of the South African Constitution and its government.
James Selfe, the chairman of the DA’s federal executive, said it would be up to the branch which Dalindyebo wanted to join to decide whether to accept his application.
“General considerations of probity would apply,” he said when asked about Dalindyebo’s record and his acknowledged dagga habit.
He said that if any other level of the DA had issues with an application, they would discuss it with the branch concerned.