ANC Johannesburg regional chairperson Loyiso Masuku has called for the party membership to ditch destructive factional leanings and work towards uniting the fractured region.
After her trailblazing election as the first regional female leader in December last year, Masuku hosted a regional executive committee (REC) induction and lekgotla this past weekend.
“We must all now focus. Unity must not be a slogan, we must be practical and live it. That also means the ability to work with people, even those who may have had a different preference,” she said in her opening remarks at the lekgotla.
“Remember, a preference was at that time, but now the ANC is the winner because there is a leadership,” she said.
The December conference marked a landslide victory for Masuku, who beat her predecessor Dada Morero in his bid for a second term. However, Masuku insists this win must not distract them from the mission at hand.
“I was clear that we must not be triumphalist. There must be nobody who is gloating about winning. The ANC remains the organisation that must change the lives of our people. We’re not going to do that if we are fractured, we will not achieve that if we are divided.
“We acknowledged, we were honest and critical in our self-reflection, collectively ... Even saying, look, we must be open to criticism, but we must also work with people who may have come before us.”
The recently elected structure has committed to promoting unity in the organisation, reconnecting with residents and ramping up much-needed service delivery.
The first point is that our councillors cannot be distant deployees. We must not theorise, we must be on the ground, we must work with our people, go to communities.
— Loyiso Masuku, ANC Johannesburg regional chairperson
“We can only do that through active branches, we cannot do it any other way. We need to ensure effective governance and that we improve service delivery in the city because our people want services. There are programmes that are going to be geared up and making sure our subcommittees and branches are functional. It’s the only thing that is going to make sure that public trust is regained for the ANC.”
Masuku hailed the energy of the elected structure, which is notably more youthful and has new entrants in its ranks.
“It’s the energy, commitment to the cause and ensuring that we dedicate our time to serving the people of Johannesburg. Case in point, we allocated subcommittees to REC members, and all of them have already developed their terms of reference, all are going to present their programmes of action at the next REC meeting. So you can see everybody is geared up and the energy is there to work.”
After the conference, the collective met for their first REC meeting, where the constitutional obligations that include electing the regional working committee as well as co-options were concluded.
“This was our second engagement, but the difference now is we invited the leagues, the alliance partners and the military war veterans,” she said.
Their plans include and will require collaboration if the region is to successfully claw back support for the ANC ahead of the upcoming local government elections.
“As we move towards this year of local government, as the 16th regional executive committee, we move with our mass democratic movement structures. The ANC’s strength is in its partners and the leagues. If we effectively work together, we are able to mobilise, do the work, and the starting point is making sure we start together.”
Masuku vowed to read the riot act to their deployees in government, saying there would be no tolerance for underperformance.
“The first point is that our councillors cannot be distant deployees. We must not theorise, we must be on the ground, we must work with our people, go to communities.
“Once you go to a person and explain why there was a delay with this bridge, the person understands there was a challenge, or that there was a rebasing, for example. We have set up a full monitoring and evaluation team that is under the regional secretary, a structure and people who are going to be there to oversee the work of councillors, the caucus and the subcommittees of the ANC.”
Following on from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s January 8 address, Masuku said it was clear from the party’s national executive committee statement that fixing local government was a priority.
“It begins with us, internally, with our ability for our branches to present visible and empowering communities on the ground. We need strong branches to be able to take up any fight, and we need to ensure that our elections structures are set up on time.”
Masuku revealed that the deadline for the execution of this task is February.
The regional chairperson highlighted the plight of the youth as a key target for the regional executive.
“In Johannesburg, we are a youthful city. Young people are crying, saying ‘lead us’. Joblessness is a ticking time-bomb, we need to engage the private sector and coordinate a multisectoral approach to formulate an intervention. These young people are the future of this city, they want a city that is liveable, where they can live, work and play.”
Meanwhile, the Sunday Times reported that party secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has ordered provincial task team officials to hand over all disputes and election material to the police for probing.
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