Oscar Mabuyane’s only fault is he’s a straight arrow

Mvusiwekhaya Sicwetsha comes to the defence of the Eastern Cape premier following a Sunday Times article by Mcebisi Ndletyana

When Oscar Mabuyane was elected provincial secretary of the ANC in the Eastern Cape in 2009, the administrative system of the ANC and some structures in the province were rattled by many things, including the defection of some members, including Mabuyane’s predecessor in the post, Siphatho Handi, to COPE.

Together with his colleagues in the provincial executive committee (PEC), Mabuyane was tasked with rebuilding the structures of the ANC, stabilising the party and ensuring members deployed to government institutions performed according to the targets set in the ANC manifesto.

Chief among Mabuyane’s responsibilities was to prepare for the 2011 local government elections, a task that proved to be a challenge given the parallel structures inherited from the previous PEC. The report by Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma about irregularities in the nomination of ward councillor candidates in some regions testifies to this.

Mabuyane, a humble team player, was at the heart of driving the administration of the PEC, providing constant communication of its decisions to other structures.

It was when he implemented the decisions of the PEC that some members, who did not like these decisions, started accusing him of being corrupt — with no evidence.

I know this because I was working with Mabuyane in rebuilding the ANC’s provincial communication system.

The attacks that emerged from many quarters were in reaction to the remarks that Mabuyane made in ANC structures on behalf of the PEC, pushing for the implementation of the step-aside rule, and his public rebuke of the manner in which the University of Fort Hare communicated with the family of a student who died at the university.

When I pitched a story to one journalist to interview Mabuyane about his work, the journalist told me Mabuyane was corrupt. But when I pressed him for the basis of his claims he could only attribute his information to nameless members of the ANC.

A recording of a discussion between Marion Mbina-Mthembu (at the time of the recording she was the HOD for provincial Treasury) and Ray Tywakadi (former head of the Eastern Cape education department) was leaked to the Daily Dispatch; it was alleged to show that Mabuyane had said a certain contract “must be given to Ngcobo boys”. The story was later found to be ethically flawed by the press ombudsman.

This was a lie manufactured to damage Mabuyane’s reputation by members of the ANC who were not happy with his firm hand in the operations of the ANC. Some party members started isolating him from the collective, and opposed him, in vain, at conferences.

There was a time when some members of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) joined the anti-Mabuyane army in a bid to destabilise the ANC in the province. The inclusion of Mabuyane in the book by Crispian Olver titled How To Steal A City, which makes unfounded and defamatory allegations against Mabuyane, was part of this ploy.

Olver claimed that the PEC and members of the dissolved regional task team were uncomfortable with the back-to-basics government programme, a claim that had serious implications for the ANC if party members were unhappy with the programme of their own government.

The book reveals the proximity between Olver and some members of the NEC, who launched investigations in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro thinking they would find evidence of wrongdoing by Mabuyane.

That did not happen because he was not involved in the alleged corruption in that municipality, or in any other municipality.

Allegations by Lonwabo Bam, which the public protector appears to have fallen for, are the subject of a judicial review because they are baseless insofar as Mabuyane’s loan from provincial ANC treasurer Babalo Madikizela is concerned.

Mcebisi Ndletyana’s article in the Sunday Times of January 9 ignores this reality and falls into the same pit into which the Dispatch, Olver, the public protector and some members of the ANC, including NEC members, have fallen by regarding Mabuyane as corrupt without evidence.

When these false allegations were made about him, Mabuyane submitted himself fully to the structures of the ANC to give his account, in line with the resolutions of the 54th national conference and the requirements of the ANC constitution.

Ndletyana makes baseless statements in his article, claiming the ANC cares little for ethical leadership, despite the very same Mabuyane-led organisation in the province implementing the step-aside rule and other resolutions of the ANC ensuring ethical leadership.

He refers to R450,000 that Mabuyane received from Madikizela. Mabuyane asked him for a loan. When you ask a friend for a loan you know the person has the money and the fact they agree to lend you the money is enough. Arguing that he should have asked about the source of the money is bizarre and unfair to Mabuyane.

Mabuyane is not a saint. He is a human being and makes mistakes like all of us; the guy supports Orlando Pirates, for heaven’s sake. But the allegations against him are false and wrong.

Should he not be elected as provincial chair of the ANC, or to any position in the ANC, because some comrades are given to cooking up baseless allegations against him?

If the ANC is to continue its renewal, we must elect fearless leaders who will not be stopped from doing their jobs and implementing our decisions.