HAZYVIEW – Despite Mpumalanga ANC’s rejection of the proposed early elective conference, the party does not renounce premier Mr David Mabuza’s name as a preferred candidate for deputy president of the organisation.
Speaking to Mpumalanga News, secretary of the party in the province, Mr Mandla Ndlovu said the organisation did not support the demand for an early elective conference as proposed by other members who want president Jacob Zuma and his National Executive Committee (NEC) members to vacate their positions.
This was one of the resolutions taken during the party’s legotla which took place in Hazyview the past weekend. “We are not convinced that an early conference will unify the ANC, and therefore we do not support it. We will discuss issues of preferred candidates after the NEC meeting which will take place this month. The meeting will give us guidance on the programme for the coming conference. However, we do not withdraw nor deny or confirm our view about our chairperson towards the conference,” he said.
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NEC that will unify the party come
2019 general elections. Although, branches in all regions in the province are singing in tune of Mabuza’s support, Mabuza insisted that he did not want to become centre of factions and that the decision for the NEC candidate list had to be a collective one.
Other resolutions that were taken related to the recent local government elections, the feeding scheme, scholar transport, human settlements, unemployment and poverty.
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Elections
Following the country’s 53,9 per cent ANC vote and 70 per cent in the province during the local government elections, the party acknowledged some irregularities in the nomination process of councillor candidates. “We acknowledge that in South Africa elections are credible and processes are not manipulated by the ANC. We thank all political parties for giving ANC fierce contest and accepting the outcome and we respect the will of the people. We also want to apologise to the communities where the nomination process was flouted. Those that manipulated their way onto the list will be reprimanded,” said Ndlovu.
Feeding scheme, scholar transport, human settlements
A new scholar transport system will be introduced in Bohlabela and Gert Sibande regions. The system will extend to other regions in due course. “Service providers will be appointed to purchase buses, operate them and transfer them to the schools. So, schools will own the buses instead of government paying transport owners to ferry learners to school.”
The tender system for schools’ feeding schemes will be scrapped and replaced by a people-driven project. “Service providers will no longer be appointed to provide food for schools. Instead, parents and members of the communities will be appointed to work in the feeding scheme. In that way, local farms and businesses will benefit while also creating job opportunities,” added Ndlovu.
Big and established construction companies will no longer be considered for the Reconstruction Development Programme (RDP). “We want to take government work to the people to empower them and to curb the level of unemployment. Most of the work the companies are conducting, people can do. Our aim is to make people’s housing a people’s project.”
Unemployment
The ANC will host an economic summit on September 18 to 20 this year to address socio-economic conditions in the province, unemployment and poverty. “Our aim is to assist people to become self-employed. We are going to discuss how best government can utilise the resources provided, to assist small businesses in creating employment opportunities. We will also discuss the resuscitation of projects implemented by the homelands system through Mpumalanga Enterprise Growth Agency (MEGA). We will not leave out the corporates that have collapsed due to insufficient support and we will look into their restoration,” concluded Ndlovu.
