The new political kid on the block, Build A Better South Africa (Babsa), has appointed the former ActionSA leader as its secretary general.
Musa Mbewe, who is a former ActionSA Gauteng Women’s Forum provincial chairperson, has dumped Herman Mashaba’s political party to join BABSA.
Babsa is led by the former world boxing champion Lovermore “Black Panther” Ndou, who has dual citizenship in South Africa and Australia.
Ndou was born in Musina in Limpopo. In 2023, he announced that he was starting his own political party. He said he aims to get rid of black economic empowerment and fight corruption, including salary hike for the police to fight crime.
Deputy SG welcomes Mbewe
The party’s deputy secretary, Tsepo Mhlongo, a former DA MP, welcomed Mbewe. He said that his organisation was excited that Mbewe had joined Babsa as its secretary general.
“It is with great excitement and pride that we officially announce the appointment of Pastor Musa Mbewe as the new secretary general of Build A Better South Africa. Your fearless leadership, passion for social justice, and commitment to building a better South Africa will no doubt add tremendous value to our movement,” said Mhlongo.
However, the appointment of Mbewe did not sit well with other members and supporters of the party. They stated that Babsa was like other political parties which appoint people to top positions at random.
Members question appointment processes
“We are concerned about how this newly formed party is doing things. There is no quorum when decisions are made. We were shocked when we heard out of nowhere that Musa had been appointed to be a secretary general.
“She just joined the party now. And only one trip to Bloemfontein to meet with the students of the University of Free State with Tsepo just few weeks ago, she had been appointed to the highest position in the party. What nonsense is this? And what are these people trying to tell us about this party?
“Its modus operandi is not different from all other parties that were formed to dethrone ANC. People get parachuted to positions just like that,” said an angry Babsa member who asked to be anonymous.
Another member also asked how Mhlongo was made a deputy president. They argued that he was not part of the campaigns during the run-up to national elections last year. This was when Ndou was contesting elections as an independent candidate.
New members are just thrown in
“An announcement was made this year that Tsepo is the deputy president but nobody was informed. It was a decision that was made out of nowhere that the guy from Orlando East was the deputy president. And this was done without any quorum. This is another spaza shop party being built. All these new political parties are the same as they just appoint leaders njee,” said another party member.
Mhlongo dismissed claims that the party was another talk shop aimed at giving top leadership positions to people who have never worked on the ground to campaign nor making the party visible.
“We appoint members on an interim basis as we prepare to go for our congress. That is where democratic elections for leadership positions will take place,” said Mhlongo.
He also stated that all political parties that were formed had also made interim appointments. There was nothing sinister about what Babsa is doing, he said.
New members only interim, says Mhlongo
“As Babsa, we want to remind everyone that we are a new and growing movement. And we are in the process of appointing leaders across different branches, constituencies, regions, provinces, and at national level.
“Right now we have interim structures. And their role is to lead and build the organisation until we hold our official congresses at all levels of the party. Let it be clear, we don’t parachute members from nowhere. Every leader we appoint has a track record of working with us on the ground. I personally went with Cde Musa Mbewe to Bloemfontein where she officially signed as a member of Babsa. We are appointing leaders, not politicians,” said Mhlongo.
He also said that it was a lie that the party was just making appointments of leaders without consulting regional structures. Mhlongo added that regions were informed that Mbewe was going to be appointed as a secretary general.
He denied existence of factions
“On Monday we had a leadership meeting from different regions. And we informed them internally about the appointment of cde Mbewe. There are no groupings or factions within the party. We tolerate each other as family and not as comrades. And we are not here because we are friends, but we are here because we share a common vision. Like any family, we may not always agree. But we tolerate and respect each other because the mission is bigger than all of us.
“We are not here to please individuals, as we are here to build structures and give power back to the people. Of course, some people will be angry. Especially those who are used to politics of exclusion, entitlement, and gatekeeping. At Babsa, leadership is earned through commitment, not noise. We don’t appoint friends, we appoint leaders who work,” said Mhlongo.
