From dancer to ANC councillor
Councillor Calvin Mahlaule aims to bring about change in his community.
LIMPOPO – Xigubu, a traditional dance (drums dance) is not just something Calvin Mahlaule learned on the street, he inherited his dancing skills from his father, Hlengani Phineas Mahlaule. Henry was a legendary traditional dancer famous for his dance moves in the 80s and 90s. He passed away in 2008. Calvin has always been someone who made the most of his opportunities and soon recruited his father’s old group members and formed a new dancing group. They went on to earn a living performing at government functions.
The group quickly gained a big audience and won awards in both provincial and national competitions. Calvin became very popular and well respected in the N’wadzekudzeku community. He later joined the ANC and became the chairperson of the ANC Youth League. He was soon promoted to additional member in the ANC Youth League regional structure while he served as secretary of the ANC in Limpopo. He was encouraged to stand as councillor of his community and was unopposed in the recent local government elections.
Calvin says the move from local dancer to politics came naturally as his parents were both members of the ANC. “My mother was the chairperson of the ANC Women’s League for a few years and my father was a member of the ANC until the day he died,” he explains.
According to Calvin, his father led a vigorous campaign for the ANC through traditional dance which made both the dancing and the party very popular. “He used to draw a crowd for the ANC campaigns. Because of that, the ANC offered him a position as a ward councillor in 2005 but he refused, stating they should offer the job to someone who was unemployed,” says Calvin. He says his aim is to bring about change in his community.
“I want to fix problems that have been troubling us for years, such as bad access roads and the lack of water supply,” he explains. He says he will listen to what his community wants and ensure they receive better service from the government. “I will not wait until the community reaches a point where they resort to protesting before I tend to their needs because once that happens, it causes a lot of damage,” he concludes.
