Cry My Beloved Ward

I look at a reluctant sun peeking into the morning darkness. I shiver as the cold seeps into my being. Our dream is  defferred, it would seem. Ward 30 will never be the same again. As the sunlight enters into my room I am still overcome with the force of  darkness for  the day ahead. I ask myself over and over - has my beloved ward 30 in Msunduzi being stolen for the 2nd time.   

I track the events. On the 9th of May the Ward 30 BGM sat to elect leaders without a quorum. The deployee asked leaders to go out and find members in order to be quorate. 

With a view that the scanning was possibly done by people compromised with a factional interest many people were certain that the  number of people scanned at the entrance  would not correspond with the number of people required for a quorum.   One side won the BGM by about 10 votes. It was also possible that individuals carried the identity documents of others members who could not attend and these individuals were let in by the scanner. It was the Ist time that the ward 30 BGM was contested in the last 2 decades. A few weeks later a what's app post emerged suggesting that ward 30 was among the wards not quorate in terms of the scanning. 

Nothing has transpired since and it seems that this issue is buried. 

The second BGM was held on a Sunday, the 

20th of June 2021. This BGM was required to nominate candidates for the local election.

At this meeting 38 individuals attended. The quorum required was 86 members for a normal BGM. The chair indicated that 50 present members may make a quorum because of Covid level 3 guidelines for the ANC. 

However even the 50 person quorum was not met but members were told that the quorum of 38 was allowed  after 5 hours of waiting. Members were also advised that that no deployee was required. So 38 people nominated candidates for a ward of about 8000 registered voters. 

A community meeting was called on Wednesday 23 June 2021. The chair posted the notice of a  meeting on social media at 10 am on the day of the meeting for 5pm. The community meeting was held in contravention of the  lockdown level 3 protocols. +120 people attended this meeting in the Ezitinkeni voting district whilst a BGM held 3 days earlier had one third the quorum using lockdown protocols as an excuse.  

This meeting was not advertised in the other 4 vds save for one social media post on the day of the meeting.  

A general feeling exists  that a public meeting should of been held in all 4 voting districts in order to ensure: 

- No disenfranchisement of voters.   

- Compliance to lockdown level 3.    

Sunday 27 June 2021 might be the final day of a flawed process. An election will take place for 4 nominees elected by one of 5 voting districts. 

A sitting ANC councillor who historically  won ward 30 in 2019 is excluded as a nominee. That victory in 2019 took blood, sweat and when we won tears flowed more than champagne. One veteran uMum Ntombi said - today I can die because it was my burning wish to unseat the DA after a few decades. Our tears had to be halted by the then speaker Jabu Ndlovu because grown adults were sobbing. 

The burning question is whether  democracy prevails in the ANC or does democracy continue to be  defiled. In the last community elections in 2019 I believe that one of the losing  candidates was cheated out of his nomination. He accepted this as a disciplined albeit very young leader with great promise in terms of political acumen. I felt that breach keenly and begged elders for this young comrade to be given a job. When this did not happen I employed him. The region felt that an Indian candidate was best suited for a ward with majority Indian residents.

It is perhaps correct to assert that the ANC is no longer a vehicle of development but a peddler of power. It breaks my heart that young leaders are taught how to become peddlers of power. It is when good men keep quiet in the interest of factional unity that we let our children burn in the their quest for power. 

Yes, ward 30 is  separated by factional divisions. On one faction is my sister. On the other faction is my son. Yesterday my son attempts to  terminate the membership of sister. I ask myself today how would Oliver Tambo manage this type of dilemma. 

I believe he would say -  speak the truth but build an  environment for principled unity to take root.  If you embarrass your leadership then you are creating an environment for them to build processes not factions. To build unity, not division. To grow development, not power. He would say be patient and consistent in what you say and how you say it...