OUR VIEW: It is not only about eulogising Madiba

It is a welcome gesture taking place in the province, as candidates for the position are more than a handful. Each week they are sprawled around delivering memorial lectures on the late icon and statesman, Nelson Mandela.

To me, the fact that the ANC dedicated 2018 to Madiba, thus reflecting on the life and times of Mandela, poses a mammoth task for the candidates.

It is not only about eulogising Madiba, but also reflecting on your very livelihood and whether it matches what Madiba went through in his political career when he executed the Triple S idiom – Service, Sacrifice and Suffering. Are you, as a candidate, prepared to or have undergone the above? Is your goal to serve the poor masses or to enrich yourselves?

What seems to trouble yours truly is that some candidates still print their faces on T-shirts, which is a worrying factor. Is it about themselves or is it about the people?

The Batho Pele/People First principle should prevail at all times.

It is, however, disturbing to come across posts on Facebook and other social-media platforms about our company favouring certain candidates over the others. It is not true. Our publications bear testimony to such, because we have avoided, at all costs, publishing individual campaigns. We believe each one of the candidates has an equal chance of succeeding in the forthcoming provincial general council, to be held early in April, to elect the three candidates to fill up the provincial executive committee.

It can be deduced from the arrogant tendency of others’ lobby staff that such irresponsible remarks can be made, because they demand an entry to enforce all the media attention at all costs. I must hasten to warn them that their victory during their elective conference is not dependent on us, but the delegates of the ANC, which we are not a part of.