The ANC in the Eastern Cape last weekend held its elective conference for one of the biggest and most influential regions in the country — OR Tambo.
Named after one of the most iconic leaders in the struggle, Oliver Reginald Tambo, the region has over the years been one of the main battlegrounds for the party.
As recent as 2022, the region became a major deciding block which brought back premier Oscar Mabuyane to lead the ANC as its chair in the province.
That propelled his campaign for the position of deputy president, which he narrowly lost to Paul Mashatile.
Leading up to last weekend’s conference, the region’s importance and influence was emphasised by party insiders who said securing the backing of the region as a candidate, you practically have one quarter of the provincial support.
At the national level, the region’s backing, together with that of eThekwini, gives any candidate a great chance to win a conference.
It is now high time the ANC used its influence to redirect resources to alleviate poverty
However, despite this historical influence, residents in the region remain among the poorest in the country despite being loyal to the ANC since 1994.
A number of the region’s residents still struggle to access basic services such as clean drinking water, roads, electricity and even housing in some instances.
Mthatha, which was the capital of the Bantustan government, is still the only reasonably developed town in the region.
Crime is getting out of hand, with extortion and attacks on businesses and tourism sites out of control.
The majority of residents in the region are highly dependent on grants while others are forced to look for job opportunities outside the province due to the high rate of unemployment.
Closing off the conference on Sunday, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula urged the party in the province to unite to continue playing its influential role in national politics.
But what Mbalula should have told the newly elected leadership, headed by OR Tambo municipality mayor Mesuli Nqondwana, as regional chair, is for the party to rather use its influence for the benefit of residents.
It cannot be that for so many years the region makes the premier and presidents but it cannot in turn influence them to redirect resources to the people it serves.
Just last week, AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo had to partly step in to get funds for flood relief for people who have been displaced in Mthatha while the party was focused on leadership contests.
It is now high time for the ANC in the region, and the province, to use its influence to redirect resources to alleviate poverty, accelerate service delivery and service the needy.
This influence cannot just be about interparty contents. The people should come first, not internal factional battles.
Daily Dispatch
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