‘Bones’ goes to NCOP

SEDIBENG. – When the 6th administration started in 2019, it was I, Kingsol Chabalala, and the late Comrade Thuli Nkabinde Khawe representing the Vaal in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. However, after her passing, I was the only one from the ANC in the Vaal.

I am proud that today we have Comrade Andiswa Mosai, ANC PEC member, Thulani Monty Kunene, ANC Sedibeng Chair, Disebo Tlebere, ANC Women’s League Sedibeng Secretary, and Vuyiswa Jentile, ANC Youth League Gauteng Deputy Convenor, coming from the Vaal, along with Kingsol Chabalala of the DA. My time at the Legislature was both an exciting and difficult period, which gave me invaluable experience in handling conflicts between the department, contractors, and the community as beneficiaries.

I had to learn quickly, and fortunately, I had an amazing portfolio committee whose members were eager to learn and contribute towards ensuring that our communities receive high-quality infrastructure delivered on time and within budget. The support staff of the portfolio was also exceptionally prepared, always willing to go the extra mile to make the committee’s work worthwhile.

Growing up in this organisation, one of the many principles we were taught was that you don’t tell the ANC what you want. You can’t just wake up and tell ANC members that you want to be the Chair or Secretary. Instead, the ANC, through its members, will come to you once you are ready to be entrusted with any organisational responsibility. That is why, even today, I still subject myself to what the ANC decides at all times.

Now that I have been deployed to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) to champion the interests of Gauteng Province, I go there with one thing in mind: I am privileged because the ANC could have deployed another comrade but saw fit to deploy me. This means I have huge responsibilities not to disappoint—not only the ANC but also the people of Gauteng (to a greater extent, Vaal), my comrades, family, and friends. I go to Parliament together with Comrade Sello Maeco, who is also an ANC PEC member from Sharpeville.

We were together in youth politics growing up. We follow in the footsteps of giants from our region who have been in Parliament, such as Comrades Dikeledi Tsotetsi, Melina Gomba, Slovo Majola, and the late Assistance Mushudulu, among others.

Ours is to serve and complain later.

We have a chance to leave our footprint in national politics and help shape and direct how best to serve the people of South Africa. All this responsibility will be useless if one doesn’t go to school and study in order to contribute positively. Therefore, I will be going back to school to ensure that I am a graduate in the next five years.

I look forward to the new challenges and valuable experiences that the next five years will bring.

• This is Mpho ‘Bones’ Modise’s Opinion Piece. He is an NCOP member from the African National Congress (ANC) and from Vereeniging in the Vaal.