POLOKWANE – He also shared his views on the importance of a municipal election and what the party planned to garner support from voters.
We wanted to know from him what he thought about the election process of councillors and how the party planned to ensure the councillors were competent and able to assist and resolve the community’s queries.
Mathabatha said there were monitoring processes which were followed to ensure the right person was elected to become a councillor. He said choosing the right person for the specific tasks at hand was essential in ensuring the community was happy and all queries were resolved timeously and properly.
He said the ANC has an Election Task Team comprising several members from different committees of ANC structures that are used to gain voters. These are cascaded from national, provincial, regional and local government and they all work together to strengthen the party’s branches by explaining the importance of elections to the voters. Mathabatha said the garnering of new voters and keeping the loyal voters were very important as it determined the sustainability of a political party.
“Our people know where they are from and they understand that transformation is a long arduous process and that is why the veteran leagues are important. Those who were there from the beginning are an important keg of our transformation. It is important that the ANC makes an impression on the born frees. Their politics are different, but the ANC is a big church that attracts both young and old with our ideals,” Mathabatha said.
He said the ANC was an interactive organisation and made a point of staying active long after elections have been completed. “When we are quiet we are building dams, reconstructing roads and building houses. We believe our work should be evident in the community and not just be lipservice. Deeds speak louder than words. Other political parties can do a lot of talking, but its obvious they will never deliver anything since they have no single capacity,” he explained.
We asked the premier to explain to our readers why it was so important to register and to vote.
“The community should not think that voting is pointless. For more than 300 years, black people in South Africa could not vote and the people fought hard to give everyone the right to cast their vote and have a say in their futures. Let’s not take power of voting lightly or see it as a simple and ordinary thing. If people don’t like a particular administration, let them use their power to vote and elect whomever they want instead of standing on the sidelines. Young people should vote to preserve their #FeesMustFall and #employment. They are giving whoever they elect the mandate over their futures,” Mathabatha said.
