ANC provincial top brass rolled up their sleeves to pick up rubbish in Mdantsane NU13 on Saturday.
The clean-up – to launch the provincial Thuma Mina (send me) campaign – follows calls by President Cyril Ramaphosa for ANC officials to engage actively in resolving people’s problems, especially those around poor delivery of basic services.
A group of ANC Dr WB Rubusana region members dressed in overalls were led by Buffalo City Metro deputy mayor and ANC provincial executive committee member Zoliswa Matana in picking up street litter.
“Since service delivery is one of our main priorities, we came here in the spirit of voluntarism and to ask the people to work with us in solving their problems.
“The president [Ramaphosa] gave us a task. We identified some of the areas that need our attention and we are here to show our hand,” said Matana.
ANC provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi said he was happy the party had launched the campaign in BCM and he was delighted by the response of the people.
“We are here to establish practical ways to resolve service delivery issues. We want people to engage and work with us in resolving these issues,” said Ngcukayitobi.
He said the call to clean up was directed at all members of the public, not just his party.
Afterwards, a rally was held at the Winter Rose sports grounds in NU13 where tripartite alliance members and ANC national, provincial, regional and youth league members addressed about 500 people who had gathered.
ANC NEC member Thabang Makwetla said the campaign’s objective was to return the ANC to its glory days and was part of the celebration of 100 years of Nelson Mandela’s life and legacy. He urged leaders to listen to the voices of their community.
“Each month, for at least three days, we must work with the people to resolve issues faced by the people in our communities,” said Makwetla.
BCM’s ward 21 – which covers Mdantsane NU13 and NU12, Mdantsane West and Riverine – will hold its by-election this month. The position has been vacant since the death of ANC ward councillor Mlandeli Ngabayena in April...