Pretoria - As it made a comeback to politics, Black Lives First (BLF) again held no punches back on its stance on who could vote for it as it announced its mini manifesto on Friday.
BLF leader Andile Mngxitama said the party was gunning for the administrative capital of Tshwane to make sure services run smoothly, especially in townships, and he was also going for the Joburg mayorship, adding that while they had been forced to amend their constitution and allow white people to vote for them, they were still not welcome in the party.
He led the Phoenix party to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in Centurion to collect its certificate for re-registering as a political party, and said there was no other party that was uncompromising about the black agenda.
Saying the EFF and ANC were unable to ensure the improvement of black people’s lives, he said, “Even the Freedom Front Plus is somewhat better than both these parties, because at least we know that they are white agenda base-driven with their white capital monopoly. The EFF and ANC pose as if they want to liberate black people, but they are sadly under white monopoly capital.”
In 2019 the BLF was deregistered by the Electoral Court after the Freedom Front Plus took it and the IEC to court, arguing the 2016 registration was irregular as its constitution violated the Electoral Commission Act.
The argument was based on a section of the organisation’s constitution, which stipulated that the movement was only open to black people.
Mngxitama said white people had their own parties in the FF+ and the DA.
“The mandate this leadership was given by our members was to meet the criteria to be able to represent our people in elections, and we’ve met that criteria. That criteria does not say we should have white people among us. White people have their own parties … they even have funny things like AfriForum and Solidarity, all those things. What do they want in our movement?”
Mngxitama said first on the list when he took over as mayor after the upcoming municipal elections was to address the issue of unemployment, especially among the youth.
He said he was baffled by why graduates were not automatically absorbed into companies. “Once we run the City we are going to compel all entities, state or private, to take graduates automatically, using all vested powers,” he said.
Unpacking more from the party's manifesto, Mngxitama said they had a comprehensive plan to deal with the contentious issue of xenophobia.
He accused Julius Malema of sugar-coating the real issue of the ongoing problem by wanting to open Africa’s borders and said the ANC was lost and exhausted on the issue.
“The desperate immigrants are not hiring themselves and breaking the law. The people breaking the law are white monopoly capital that hire the hungry immigrants and exploit them. The law states who and how people can be employed,” he said.
The party will be going to Malawi to personally thank the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church leader Shepherd Bushiri for his support, and to stand in solidarity with him.
“This year has been declared by our prophet [Bushiri] as the year of miracles, and we as Black First Land First have declared it the year of victory, therefore it is the year where we’re going to see victory and miracles.
“We speak the language of miracles. Most people don’t understand the language of miracles, but look, we arrived here with rain. It’s not raining in Nkandla, it is raining here, this is where the blessings are.
“We thank all the prophets who have interceded on behalf of BLF to overcome the hurdles put before us for the registration of BLF. In particular we wish to single out Prophet Shepherd Bushiri. The God of Major 1 is a living God,” said Mngxitama.
He also urged former president Jacob Zuma to watch his back as he met EFF Commander-in-Chief Julius Malema in Nkandla.
“You are sitting there with a seasoned sellout, the seasoned betrayer who is prepared to go to Nkandla – a place he said was a place of corruption – to go and sniff around and see how prepared you are for this battle. We are simply saying to president Zuma ’watch your back and good luck’,” Mngxitama said.
Pretoria News