DEPUTY PRESIDENT MASHATILE HITS THE GROUND RUNNING - CALLS FOR CALM AS SOWETO AND DURBAN BOIL OVER
By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief
The Azanian | Truth. Fearless. Unfiltered.
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IVORY PARK, GAUTENG -After being cleared by doctors, Deputy President Paul Mashatile returned to the campaign trail.
No boardroom. No air-conditioned hall. The Deputy President of the Republic and Deputy President of the African National Congress went straight to where he belongs - the dusty streets of Ivory Park, Zone 15, Ward 79, Eqnisweni VD, Greater Joburg Region, doing door-to-door at 10h00.
It is less than a month before the November 4 Local Government Elections, and the country has been missing him.
For weeks, South Africa has lacked that calm, soft-spoken, humble but powerful voice. A rare breed of comrade who does not need bluelights and bodyguards to lead - because he knows the streets, he knows the people, he knows the ground. And today, he showed why.
The consummate leader who loves the ANC wasted no time. Hours after being cleared, he was on the ground, adding to the work volunteers have been doing.
His message to a nation boiling over was statesmanship: Calm.
For clarity, President - the calm Deputy President Mashatile is calling for is specific. It is about the asylum seeker crisis and the sporadic riots that followed in Soweto and Durban, where shops were looted and roads were blocked.
While some voices now demand South Africa must pull out of the UN Refugee Convention altogether, saying countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh do not sign refugee treaties but their citizens pose as refugees here, Deputy President Mashatile called for order, not anarchy.
He said communities must not take the law into their own hands while government, which has admitted the system is overwhelmed, reviews it.
On the second burning issue - ANC leaders fighting each other in court on the eve of elections - Deputy President Mashatile was disciplined and presidential.
Asked about NEC member Andile Lungisa winning a High Court judgment that found Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula acted unlawfully, unconstitutionally and invalidly in removing him from the Nelson Mandela Bay list, and about NEC member Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma now set to face Mbalula in open court after Judge Henno Viljoen ordered both to take the stand and give oral evidence on vote-buying defamation claims - Deputy President Mashatile did not throw his comrades under the bus.
His response was clear: The NEC will deal with these issues. The NEC will resolve these issues. What is important now is to concentrate on the upcoming elections.
When pressed on Former President Jacob Zuma's health amid mixed messages about his whereabouts, Deputy President Mashatile responded with Ubuntu - wishing him a speedy recovery - and steering the focus back to what matters: winning November 4.
Deputy President Mashatile further thanked all South Africans without exception for their support while he was in hospital and recovering at home, including members of the media for their goodwill messages.
He confirmed Former President Thabo Mbeki visited him, along with other comrades. "Let me start by thanking all South Africans without exception for the support I received when I was in hospital and recovering at home. Including from all of you members of the media. I got good messages of goodwill," he said.
"Our volunteers have been doing a lot of good work. I can't do miracles coming now. I'm just adding to what they've been doing and really appreciating that they have been working so hard."
Today, Ivory Park saw it. The streets saw it. The country saw it.
Deputy President Paul Mashatile is back. Humble. Grounded. Focused. And he hit the ground running.
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