Siphelele Nketo
AFTER being a long-standing member of the African National Congress (ANC) in the Kokstad area of KwaZulu-Natal, Ntobeko Mavuka has defected to uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party.
He was recently welcomed together with other members of the ANC at a jubilant gathering in Kokstad. He said he resigned from the ANC after he felt that his contributions were no longer needed. He claimed that the ANC in Kokstad and the Harry Gwala region serve factions, not the majority of its members.
He said resigning from the ANC was a tough decision to make, mentioning that the ANC of today is no longer the ANC he joined when he was a teenager.
“I joined the ANC when it was not fashionable, but driven by the love of serving without expecting a reward,” he said.
Mavuka said his love for politics started when he was in his place of birth in Flagstaff. When he relocated to Gqeberha with his family at an early age, he joined the Congress of South African Students. In 2000, he moved to Kokstad and became an active ANC member.
In 2006, he became an ANC Ward 5 councillor, and mentioned that it was his hard work and commitment for the organisation that led to him being voted in as a councillor under the Greater Kokstad Municipality. He served as a ward councillor for a period of 15 years. He also served as the ANC Youth League Harry Gwala regional executive member and Youth League KZN provincial executive member. In 2014 he was an ANC regional executive member. Before he tendered his resignation from the ANC, Mavuka was a member of the Regional Working Task Team of the ANC Harry Gwala, and also a member of the ANC’s Regional Task Team.
“In the ANC organisation under the Chief Albert Luthuli ANC branch in Kokstad, I was an activist that championed development in my ward, also recruiting people from other organisations to join the ANC. Now that all that has passed, I will start working for the MKP and singing new songs for the organisation,” he said.
Apart from his political activity, Mavuka launched Mavuka United FC, a soccer club based in Kokstad, responsible for grooming U13 and senior footballers. According to Phasumuzi Mpanza, the MKP Harry Gwala regional convenor, the party has been welcoming new members recently, which will boost the party’s growth in the run-up towards elections on November 4.
Thoneka Mngonyama, the ANC’s Kokstad sub-regional task team coordinator, said the ANC was not surprised by the resignation of Mavuka and other members of the ANC, saying that their conduct and political posture had been raising serious questions and concerns about their commitment to the values, principles and organisational discipline of the ANC.
“Their decision merely confirms what had already become evident through their actions,” she said.
She added that the ANC remained focused on rebuilding, renewing and strengthening the movement. She said the ANC respects every individual’s democratic right to choose their political affiliation and further said those who no longer believe in the ANC should be transparent rather than remain within the organisation while advancing the interests of another political party.
