ANC vows to take back Bay
Mabuyane reprimands izinyoka while on the campaign trail in New Brighton
ANC Eastern Cape chair Oscar Mabuyane vowed yesterday that the party would take back Nelson Mandela Bay come October 27.
Mabuyane was in Gqeberha to lead the ANC’s by-election campaign in New Brighton ahead of the May 19 election in Ward 17.
The ward became vacant after the death of Ncediso Captain in November.
The ANC lost the 2016 government elections when its voters failed to turn up at the polls.
More recently, ANC national executive committee (NEC) member and state security deputy minister Zizi Kodwa attributed this loss to corruption charges levelled against the party’s members.
Speaking at the Nangoza Jebe Hall, Mabuyane said ANC members should focus on the upcoming local elections, adding that the time to govern the metro was now.
“The metro is an important part of the province and country,” he said.
“Province and national need to work together to ensure services are delivered speedily.
“Let’s ensure the ANC comes back into power in Nelson Mandela Bay and let’s ensure it comes back strong.”
In recent months, Mabuyane has been vocal about party members expressing themselves outside the ANC.
He said there were some members who thrived when factions were rife in the party.
“We must guard against factions because these are gatekeepers who keep certain deployments for certain people.
“The ANC has its own process and is an organisation of the people.
“All party members need to toe the line. We won’t allow anarchy like in the past.
“We took a resolution to renew the ANC.
“The [54th national conference of the ANC held in] Nasrec was the Damascus moment.
“Factions result in anarchists and we know without them, some members will never find expression within the ANC.
“This is why others fight to sustain them by all means,” Mabuyane said.
Flanked by ANC regional task team convener Nceba Faku, co-ordinator Luyolo Nqakula and provincial executive committee member Mziwonke Ndabeni, the delegation went on a door-to-door campaign where residents complained about “sex-for-jobs”, housing and lack of service delivery.
During his walkabout, Mabuyane and his crew caught two men putting up new illegal electrical connections.
Chris Hani, which is built on a floodplain, is solely powered by illegal connections.
Mabuyane told the two men to stop what they were doing not only because it was illegal, but that it was dangerous and could kill them.
Phumela Mbaza, from the Chris Hani informal settlement, lives with her 74-yearold grandfather Phumezo who has one leg and uses crutches to move around in their threeroom shack.
Mbaza told Mabuyane that she lived with five other people in the shack, including a disabled cousin.
“We have a 10-year-old disabled girl in the house and this is a bad place for her to live in.
“When it rains, this house gets flooded and because she can’t move around, we took her to a facility in Bethelsdorp but we have not seen her in a while due to Covid-19 regulations.
“Our hope is that we can be relocated elsewhere so that all of the family members can live under one roof again,” Mbaza said.
Another resident, Xhanti Mralaza, asked Mabuyane if the government could build a sports field in the area.
“We’re called all sorts of names such as Amaphara but when we ask for facilities such as sporting fields, we’re ignored.
“There is a lot of interest where sport is concerned.
“It can’t [be] that for young girls to put food on the table, they have to sleep with men to get money.
“We need support in this community,” Mralaza said.