NOLUTHANDO DLAMINI
Durban — The Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party intensified its campaign over the weekend by listening to the grievances of the Wyebank community in Durban ahead of the May 29 national and provincial elections.
Some parts of the area are affected by water and electricity supply issues.
MK Ward 19 co-ordinator Zama Gumede said the party noted the ward 19 community’s grievances.
“Today we took note of the people’s grievances and relayed them to the zone. This is where we report all the problems related to the community.
“Then the zone will take the grievances and relay them to the region where they can decide what to do regarding problems faced by ward 19. For now, we want to encourage people to come out so that they are able to change the problems they are faced with,” Gumede said.
She said the party was ready to see a new face and new leaders in power.
“The MK is not here to fight with other political parties, but as a party, we see that black people are still not entirely free; the same freedom that Nelson Mandela fought for we are still fighting for it.”
The MK Party’s campaign and programmes manager, Lungelo Nsindani, 36, said his party “is here to change what has been ruined.”
He said while making rounds in the neighbourhood they took special notice of the Zamokuhle area, where some roads were not in good condition as there are potholes, electricity cables lying on the ground and leaking water.
Nsindani added that the community had been suffering for a long time.
A resident of Wyebank, Thabisa Bangilizwe, 34, said: “The area we live in doesn’t have toilets; there’s a water shortage, power cuts and thieves enter our homes when we are asleep. When we report these matters to the committees formed to help the community, they say they can’t help us because we don’t vote. But we vote each time there’s an election. I don’t know how they know we don’t vote (if that was the case) because a vote is meant to be secret,” said Bangilizwe.
She said MK’s visit brought her joy and she hoped that change would now occur in the community.
Lucia Mdunjana, 40, said she had eagerly awaited former president and MK leader Jacob Zuma to start his party and now that this had been fulfilled she felt happy.
She urged the party to prioritise job creation.
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