Eastern Cape ANC chair Oscar Mabuyane has read the riot act to party leaders in Buffalo City. He said they needed to get their house in order, warning that the economy of the entire Eastern Cape would never thrive as long as BCM was in shambles. Mabuyane said for the province’s economy to grow, the Eastern Cape’s two metropolitan municipalities, BCM and Nelson Mandela Bay, needed to “function optimally” as the province’s major economic hubs.
Speaking on the opening day of the party’s Dr WB Rubusana region’s elective conference on Wednesday night, he said it was critical that those elected must be able to “read the economy with precision, anticipate structural shifts and steward this metro with strategic foresight”. Mabuyane said that a metro that functioned optimally, would remain a pipe dream “if it is led by an ANC that is not coherent”. Party unity“cannot be reduced to the silencing of dissent”, he said, urging those elected to “embed discipline, restore ethics and rebuild ideological clarity, so that division does not replace unity as our organisational culture”.
“The people of [this] region deserve an ANC that works, listens, leads and serves. “Let us rise from this conference ready to rebuild, ready to transform, ready to fight for justice and development. “Let history record that on this day, in this city hall, the ANC rediscovered its moral centre and reignited its flame.” There is a troubling disconnection between many members and the branch structures, reflecting a weakening political consciousness that must be reversed as a matter of urgency.
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The opening day of the three-day elective conference was marred by long delays, with proceedings only commencing almost 12 hours after the scheduled 9am start. This did not sit well with Mabuyane, who eventually delivered his speech at about 10pm.
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