In an effort to solidify his party's support ahead of the national general elections next year, the president of the African National Congress (ANC), Pres Cyril Ramaphosa, visited the Vhembe District on Saturday, 15 April.
Ramaphosa met with traditional leaders and all the party structures in the district at the Worship House Church at Shayandima late on Saturday afternoon. To show the seriousness of the party's work in rebuilding and strengthening itself, the media were not allowed into the meeting. However, sources within the ANC who attended the closed meeting said the main issues that were addressed included the lack of service delivery, filling vacant positions and the upcoming regional conference, which will be held on 20 May this year.
The regional secretary of the ANC in the Vhembe District, Rudzani Ludere, presented a report that indicated the need to fill two very important posts in the region. The deputy chairperson post was left vacant after the death of Makonde Mathivha, while a vacant post also exists for deputy secretary after Moses Maluleke was murdered last year.
The regional secretary of SANCO, David Makananise, said those who had been involved in the collapse of the VBS bank should be arrested and charged in a court of law. He said that continuing to work with them led people to think that the ANC was corrupt. Convincing them otherwise when they saw those who had been named in the VBS scandal were getting promoted to higher posts became very difficult.
Makananise further added that SANCO was not being consulted when comrades were deployed in the region. He said SANCO members were always in the firing line regarding service-delivery protests as they were the ones who were always on the ground.
The vacant positions for deputy chairperson and deputy secretary will apparently be contested by top regional members of the ANC next month. "The regional deputy chairperson of the ANC is being contested by the executive mayor of Vhembe, Cde Dowelani Nenguda and the mayor of Makhado Municipality, Cde Samuel Munyai, while the position for regional deputy secretary is contested by the current mayor of Collins Chabane Municipality, Shadrack Maluleke and Miyelani Chauke," one of the sources who spoke to us said.
Ramaphosa briefed the media after the closed meeting, saying that all the discussions and decisions taken during the meeting would be taken to the National Working Committee (NWC). He confirmed that the issue of the VBS Bank had been discussed as well and will also be addressed by the National Working Committee.
Traditional leader Thovhele Vho-Gole Mphaphuli said the time had come for the government to start fighting corruption in the country. "We are worried about the issues of corruption from the traditional leadership, the municipality to the top leadership of the country. That is why people are crying for service delivery all over the country," he said.