MKMVA congratulates Comrade Geoff Makhubo on his election as ANC Mayor of Johannesburg, and pledges our full support to the new ANC-led administration

5 December 2019

The Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) is elated with the victory of the African National Congress (ANC) in the Johannesburg mayoral elections.

In my capacity as President of MKMVA I extend my warm congratulations to comrade Goeff Makhubo, who is also the Chairperson of the Johannesburg Region of the ANC, for his solid victory.

I have worked with comrade Makhubo within the ANC structures, and specifically the Region of Johannesburg, both in my capacity as an ANC member resident in the Johannesburg Region, as well as President of MKMVA, and I know him as a competent and very committed leader. I have always been impressed by his understanding of the challenges faced by ex-MK veterans, and his commitment to implement the provisions of the Military Veterans Act, 2011 (Act No. 18 of 2011), with regards to improving the plight of military veterans, and granting our members the respect and dignity they deserve. Sadly the former DA mayor, Mr. Herman Mashaba, treated the the Military Veterans Act of 2011, and the legitimate needs and concerns of our MKMVA members with disdain.

MKMVA is looking forward to the city of Johannesburg now being under the stewardship of a committed ANC liberation fighter, someone who understands the history of our liberation struggle, and the huge sacrifices that our members of MKMVA, and their families, made for the liberation of our country.

MKMVA rejects with the contempt that it deserves the spurious attacks have been launched on the person and integrity of comrade Makhubo, by some opposition parties, most notably the DA and the EFF. This is only sour grapes by sore losers. The fact of the matter is that the allegations that they are trying to level against our new ANC mayor have been investigated, and he has been cleared of any wrong doing.

In celebrating this long overdue return of the City of Johannesburg to the control of the ANC, we must remember comrade councilor Nonhlanhla Mthembu who was so heart broken by the loss of Johannesburg to the DA coalition, that she collapsed and died during the council meeting in 2016 when Mashaba was elected as DA mayor. As we celebrate we must remember and honor this committed ANC member and activist, and dedicate this victory of the ANC to her.

The voters of Johannesburg delivered a strong message to the ANC during the 2016 Local Government elections. That message was that although the ANC is loved and revered in our communities, we had to get our house in order and put the people, especially the poor who are overwhelmingly black (and specifically African), first. Service delivery to the poor must be the ANC’s most important priority.

As a loyal servant to our people the ANC has listened to the voice of the people of Johannesburg and taken the castigation of the 2016 vote to heart.

MKMVA calls on all the ANC councilors, together with our coalition partners, to now run a people’s centered and service delivery orientated administration that will always prioritize the legitimate needs and demands of our people.

There are many challenges ahead, specifically the neglect and disdain that black poor communities suffered under the elitist and arrogant DA, and the squalor and dirt that engulfed many the inner city of Johannesburg, and many other areas where the majority of black (specifically African) citizens live. These areas, and their cleaning up, and the improvement of services to our people should be our apex priority. MKMVA is confident that the new ANC-led administration will not be found wanting, and we pledge our full support.

MKMVA also wants to express our revolutionary gratitude to the Secretary General (SG) of the ANC, comrade Ace Magashule, who at a national level, together with the provincial and regional structures of the ANC, worked tirelessly to ensure this great victory for the ANC. The role that the SG of the ANC played as a true grassroots people’s leader, and astute negotiator, deserves special acknowledgement for the manner in which he worked for unity in the ANC collective to secure the return to power of the ANC in Johannesburg.

Ultimately this victory of the ANC in Johannesburg must be seen as citizens of Johannesburg. This victory will improve lives and living conditions of Johannesburg.a victory for the if it contributes the residents ofIt must now be all hands on deck in order to achieve that laudable goal, and to ensure that control of this great city of Johannesburg will never ever again fall in the hands of charlatans and elitists, as we have experienced during the infamous period of the DA-coalition rule.

As Madiba used to admonish us: It is now in our hands!

MKMVA pledges our full support to comrade Mayor Makhubo and his ANC-led team. Forward to a people’s oriented - and specifically pro-poor - city administration, that will deliver quality services to our people!

Issued by Kebby Maphatsoe, President of MKMVA, 5 December 2019