Ace rallies the MK troops behind him

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule has promised to help resolve the problems affecting former uMkhonto we Sizwe combatants and urged them not to be demoralised because that’s want the enemy wanted.

He vowed to talk to the government – including KwaZulu Natal premier Sihle Zikalala and his executive – to find a solution to the MK members’ grievances that included housing, employment and economic opportunities and other benefits previously promised but not delivered.

In what some saw as mobilisation by the ANC chief, he attacked ANC leaders who were enjoying the fruits of freedom while the people who fought for that freedom were forgotten. He lashed out at Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, without naming him, saying some leaders undermined freedom because they did not fight like those cadres did.

Magashule said the final decision on the grievances would be made by the ANC collective, not himself alone. He promised to visit the province every fortnight until the MK members’ issues were attended to.

He said the ANC would implement all the resolutions taken at the party’s Nasrec conference in full. He said he was informed by Land Reform and Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza that the Bill on land expropriation without compensation was being processed in line with the Nasrec resolution.

“We will implement those resolutions without fail, comrades,” he said. Magashule said KwaZulu-Natal was an important province to the ANC and the “enemy” wanted to divide the province.

“When KZN is divided the ANC is divided. We rely on you, don’t do what others do,” he said.

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