BARBERTON – Just as political analysts said, as we are approaching the general elections, floor-crossing of politicians to other parties is expected to increase.
This became evident when the ANC Umjindi local elections team was shocked by former mayor of Umjindi Local Municipality (ULM), Mr Richard Lukhele’s move to join the Democratic Alliance (DA), but the ruling party said it was not surprised by Lukhele’s action.
The ANC’s
Mr Bhekizwe Nkambule said, “Let me first indicate we are living in a democratic country where people join and leave at any time by exercising their rights of choice and association and we wish him all the best. To be honest, we are not surprised because Lukhele was no longer active within the ruling party since he had reached the end of his 10-year term as mayor. We attempted to call him several times to find out what his problem was since he was not attending meetings, only to find his phone was switched off.
“As ANC, we knew that before he joined the party, he was a member of Hlanganani, which is the organisation that was founded by the apartheid government to oppose activist Africans, so he’s going back to where he belongs,” he said.
Lukhele was born and bred in the town and was loved by many residents as some used to called him ”Mriza,” while others called him our ”home boy” when he was mayor.
Mpumalanga News posed a question to Nkambule since Lukhele moved to the DA, would he not be a threat to the ruling party when it comes to recruiting members? He said, “We are not shaken at all. He was not contributing to the party for the past four years and the ANC is still growing big and strong. His departure is not a loss and does not bother the organisation at all. We wish him well in his new political home.”
The defection of Lukhele also shocked some residents as Ms Lindeni Mdluli said, “I don’t really believe he joined the DA, but it’s true that umuntfu ulala agucuke. When he was living a flashy life, driving expensive cars, he was praising the ANC and now that he’s broke, he leaves the party and we read about his financial crisis in our local newspaper. I’m not sure whether he joined the DA in the interest of serving people or if he was using it to pave a way to a high position.” living a better lifestyle,” she explained.
