DURBAN - The ANC’s Moses Mabhida region will focus on creating a new legion of cadres that seek to unite and rebuild the party.
This is according to the newly elected chairperson of the region, mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla. Thebolla beat the popular Mzi Zuma to become the new kingmaker in a region that comprises of the Umgungundlovu, Msunduzi and Richmond districts.
“The people clearly showed us during the local government elections that they were not happy with the party, and that needs to change. We have to look at the results and start governing properly in order to gain back the faith of the people. Our responsibility is to build a new cadreship which is befitting of the ANC that takes care of our neighbours and nothing more.
“We need to rebuild and reunite the ANC in the region. We have the numbers to make a contribution in the national agenda of the party, but we need to make sure that we go back to having the political content that made the likes of Moses Mabhida, Harry Gwala, Inkosi Mhlabunzima Maphumulo household names within the movement. During those times, delegates knew that a voice of reason had entered and was ready to politically elevate the ANC into a better state, and that is what we want to do moving forward,” said Thebolla.
Born and bred in the small town of Matatiele in the Eastern Cape, Thebolla was raised in a close-knit family, unbeknown to them that he would one day be an essential political figure.
Thebolla came to political consciousness in the 1980s but said when he moved to Pietermaritzburg in 1988, that was where he kick-started his political career.
“In my early days, I was introduced to the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) and instantly became very aware of the injustices our people were going through, but when I relocated to Pietermaritzburg, that is when I came into contact with the United Democratic Front (UDF), which is when I truly set-off on a political career. After the unbanning of the ANC, I joined the party’s first branch called the national branch,” said Thebolla.
He said although he could join any political party during apartheid, it was clear as daylight to him which of the parties he should commit to.
“I had an opportunity to join any liberation movement which was there during the struggle against apartheid. But, I was taught well during my time about political ideology and joined the ANC knowing well what it stands for.”
Thebolla later led the ANCYL as acting chairperson in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
In 1998, Thebolla was elected to the National Executive Committee (NEC). He also served as a councillor in the Msunduzi Municipality from 2000 - 2010 and was moved to the KZN legislature in 2013 until 2019, when he was elected as Msunduzi mayor.
He said it was easy for those who never experienced the indecency of the apartheid regime to blame the ANC for being ‘too slow’ in the advancement of the people’s needs.
“Many people find it easy to question the ANC’s commitment to the people of South Africa, but what is true is that the lives of our people have been bettered by the liberation party. However, slow the progress has been. The fact that our people are able to stand and proclaim their blackness tells us that we have achieved a lot because in the past that was not possible.”
Daily News