Former ANC provincial secretary Lucky Ndinisa proves to be exactly what the good doctor had ordered for the ailing Mpumalanga ANC as the race to elect its chairperson hots up.
Ndinisa has accepted the challenge to rebuild and rebrand the ANC by, firstly, entering the race, from the Ngci lobby group, to contest for the party’s most strategic and powerful seat with Mandla Ndlovu and Muzi Chirwa on the other side.
His campaign trail is focused at destroying anything that threatens the party’s unity and renewal project. “The challenge to defeat all elements that create disunity in the ANC is an ongoing struggle,” he told Highveld Chronicle during interview. “Central to our task will be to ensure a united and strong ANC at all levels, able to lead society in responding to the challenges of today and beyond,” he said.
His name was forwarded by his ward 8 branch of Emakhazeni municipalility in Nkangala region, backed by other members and leaders of the ANC after consulting with Nkangala, Ehlanzeni and Gert Sibande regions, to stand as candidate for ANC provincial chairperson. He appears to be a tried and tested leader of note armed with extensive political and organisational experience.
“He has the requisite skills and capabilities to lead the ANC in confronting our contemporary challenges to renew, rebuild and unite our movement towards realizing the National Democratic Revolution,” said a Ndinisa lobbyist in a statement. “To this end, Cde lucky was humbled by the confidence the lobby group has in him to carry out the organizational task to renew, rebuild and unite our movement. We therefore rally all cadres and members of our movement to unite around this candidate,” continued the statement.
Ndinisa served as ANC provincial secretary from 2008 to 2015 before being deployed to be council speaker at Nkangala District Municipality. He is also a social activist who facilitated the establishment of Nkangala Men’s Parliament to fight the scourge of Gender Based Violence. He said leadership in the ANC is not an individual exercise. “We strongly believe in the principle of collective leadership and internal democracy.”
He added, “My role as a volunteer charged with responsibility to serve as chairperson, would be to provide political and strategic leadership of the ANC in the province.” Ndinisa also said he believes in organisational unity and discourages factionalism. “Factions are lobby groups that continue to exist even after conference and they must be dealt with harshly. As we prepare and prefer our candidates, that is lobby groups. You shall find a way to deal with it. Immediately after a collective leadership has been elected, all lobby groups must cease to exist, if they continue to exist, that means they are a faction and that must be discouraged,” Ndinisa said.
He said that renewing, rebuilding and uniting the ANC is a very crucial concept for the ruling party. “It is for this reason that in line with the Nasrec Conference resolutions, the 2021 NEC January 8 statement emphasized the renewal and reconstruction of the ANC as we celebrate and honour Charlotte Maxeke. It appreciated that unity and renewal of the ANC must be at the centre of our priorities, if we are to respond to the current challenges faced by our people, which are defeating the devastating global Covid-19 pandemic and a programme of economic recovery and redress,” he said.
Initially, the Ngci lobby group was said to be represented by the sitting Premier of the province, Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, until Ndinisa’s name surfaced. Responding on this, a section of Ngci lobby group supporting the candidacy of Mtshweni-Tsipane said, “It is with great disappointment that we find ourselves as comrades who supported the name of Cde Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane as the Mpumalanga Provincial chairperson candidate at this unfortunate situation. A fraction of the so-called leaders of NGCI decided to identify themselves outside of the branches that supported Cde Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane.” “We have regrettably learned through a statement circulating in different social media platforms that the NGCI campaign has pronounced the name of Cde Lucky Ndinisa as their preferred candidate for the position of Mpumalanga Provincial Chairperson. We also learned through the same statement that Cde Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane has withdrawn her candidature because of personal reasons. We dismiss this untruthful accusation with the contempt it deserves,” the statement issued on 16 February said.
