Bushbuckridge - Mpumalanga premier David “DD” Mabuza and his entourage of MECs were chased away when they visited a ward in the Bushbuckridge local municipality on Thursday afternoon, a Sapa correspondent reported on Friday.
Mabuza, who went to Moloro village outside Acornhoek on a fact-finding door-to-door mission as part of the provincial executive's outreach programme, was called an “immature and confused” politician who disguised ANC campaigns as government service delivery.
Most of those who chased Mabuza and his delegation away belonged to the Bushbuckridge Residents' Association (BRA), which won Ward 15 in the 2009 elections.
They accused Mabuza of visiting the area without consulting, or at least informing, BRA councillor Delta Mokoena.
“Mabuza is undermining the people. He came under a government cap but talked about people voting for the ANC while also urging people to leave BRA because I do not have money and the ANC has money,” said Mokoena.
“First he didn't invite me as the councillor of that area to go with (him) to see what needs to be done in the area. When he got there he talked his nonsense and people started getting pissed off and told him to leave.”
The crowd sang insulting songs against the premier, telling him to never return to their area.
“DD, nhloko yenyoko, hamba,” they sang, insulting him about his mother's head.
“What the premier did is a sign that he’s not mature and he is confused. My last-born is far more intelligent than him,” said Mokoena.
He said the community felt undermined when public works, roads, and transport MEC Dikeledi Mahlangu visited the area in May to launch a road that government had long ignored.
“On May 22, MEC Mahlangu came here to do a sod turning for the road project. She was not talking government programmes but politics, saying people must not vote for BRA. She said the ANC has enough money and took out a bundle of money that she threw at the public.
“The money is believed to have been R10 000 and it angered the community, who decided that they would show the premier when he comes here,” said Mokoena.
On June 4, when the contractor went to start the road project, he was chased away because no locals were employed.
“All the people who were employed came from ANC-led wards and this did not sit well with our people,” Mokoena said.
Mabuza's spokesman Zibonele Mncwango confirmed that Mabuza was not received well at Ward 15, but denied Mokoena's claims, saying Mabuza was doing government work and did not talk about the ANC or how much money he had.
“The premier was not campaigning; he was doing a door-to-door campaign checking from the people if they get government services. They are lying that the premier said Mokoena doesn't have money,” said Mncwango.
The premier had failed to alert the councillor of his visit because they were doing random visits in the Bushbuckridge municipality as part of their campaign.
“Getting through communities we work with councillors and these were random visits. I must put this straight, the premier came as a government employee and to do government work.
“And for people to say the premier is immature is an insult; it shows no respect for leaders, which shows that those saying that are immature themselves,” said Mncwango. - Sapa