All roads lead to November 4. And one baritone hymn is making waves in the province of the rising sun: “Sinenkinga maComrade.”
Perhaps not a hymn, but a murmur from ANC insiders who would rather be caught dead than be found crooning it publicly. The melodious murmer captures the peculiar battle unfolding in Mpumalanga’s capital city, where comrades are being forced to campaign against parts of the very political machinery they once worked alongside.
The battle for Mbombela
At the centre is Mandla Msibi, the former ANC provincial treasurer and one of the last prominent disciples of late former deputy president David “DD” Mabuza. Msibi is now threatening to wrest the City of Mbombela from his political siblings, and the ground is already quaking as he squares off with The Elephant of the East, Mandla Ndlovu, incumbent ANC chair. Standing between Msibi and the capital is his name’s sake, who was also moulded in Mabuza’s political furnace.
Ndlovu’s history with Mabuza is complex, to say the least. It was Mabuza who fetched him from the dusty political terrain of Bushbuckridge and trusted him with branches of the province when he was elected ANC provincial secretary during his mentor’s final term as uncontested provincial chairperson.
When Mabuza departed for national politics in 2018, Ndlovu would eventually inherit the political kingdom.
The apprentice had become custodian.
Now two products of Mabuza’s political machinery have already entered the ring over its most prized urban fortress.
From ANC heavyweight to SDP contender
Msibi resigned from the ANC in April after his crushing defeat at the party’s March provincial conference. A month later he resurfaced as national convener of the fledgling Service Delivery Party (SDP) and its Mbombela mayoral candidate.
READ MORE: ‘I’m done with the ANC,’ says Mandla Msibi as he quits after Mpumalanga conference
The SDP had emerged before Msibi’s arrival, with its formation reported in Victor Khanye in January. Founder Thabo Motau later welcomed Msibi into the organisation at Pienaar, effectively handing the young party one of Mpumalanga’s most experienced grassroots campaigners.
Its pitch is deliberately municipal: water, electricity, sanitation, roads, refuse removal, homeground job creation and accountable local government.
A deeply personal campaign
For Msibi, however, Mbombela is personal.
He previously served as speaker of the municipality before climbing through provincial politics and becoming one of the ANC’s formidable grassroots mobilisers.
On the campaign trail, he has publicly demonstrated his intimate knowledge of the battleground, reciting each ward stretching from Hazyview across Mbombela to Barberton, Mabuza’s own hometown.
But Msibi is not naive about the arithmetic.
In a video circulating among political activists, he tells MKP campaigners that theirs is the only party he would consider talking to after the November elections about combining numbers.
The remarks suggest that, beneath the bravado of campaigning for control, Msibi understands that an outright SDP majority would be an extraordinary mountain to climb.
ANC Fights Back
And the ANC is fighting back.
Msibi’s years as a powerful ANC figure also left disgruntled grassroots activists behind, making his departure an opportunity for some former members to return home.
Former EFF councillors have also defected back to the ANC as new brooms in berets are introduced to contest wards.
Ndlovu, meanwhile, has spent the year drawing former political heavyweights back into the ANC’s orbit, borrowing from Mabuza’s old “Unity Macabane” philosophy of pulling political enemies closer instead of permanently casting them out.
READ MORE: Mpumalanga’s Mandla Ndlovu invites Jacob Zuma, other defectors to return to ANC
Former premier and ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa has been brought closer to provincial government for his indefatigable investment acumen, while several former MECs have resurfaced on the boards of provincial entities, with once-forgotten constituencies trailering behind.
The irony at the ballot box
That strategy could become critical in Mbombela.
Former deputy minister Candith Mashego-Dlamini is among the names being discussed alongside provincial legislature Scopa chairperson Desmond Moela as possible ANC choices to replace incumbent mayor Sibongile Makhushe-Mazibuko.
The irony is delicious.
Makhushe-Mazibuko took Msibi’s provincial treasury bread in March. Now the man whose political career appeared buried at that conference is returning for the municipality she governs.
This is therefore more than bad blood between two Mandlas.
It is blood at the ballot box.
Both men were shaped by Mabuza. Both inherited pieces of his political machinery. And both believe they are protecting something they helped build.
The Godfather is gone. His understudies are now fighting over the workshop. They could not speak “Mindlo to Mindlos.” Now the voters must speak on their behalf. May the best son win.
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ANC Mpumalanga provincial conference gets underway peacefully
- Mandla Msibi, former ANC provincial treasurer, resigned from the ANC in April and is now the Service Delivery Party's (SDP) Mbombela mayoral candidate.
- Mandla Ndlovu, the incumbent ANC chair and political ally of late deputy president David Mabuza, is Msibi's main rival for control of Mbombela.
- Msibi previously served as speaker of Mbombela municipality and is campaigning on municipal issues like water, electricity, sanitation, and job creation.
- The ANC is countering Msibi's defection by drawing former activists and EFF councillors back, and involving political heavyweights like Mathews Phosa in provincial government.
- The contest in Mbombela is a battle between two ANC factions once united under Mabuza, now competing with candidates like Sibongile Makhushe-Mazibuko representing the ANC.
All roads lead to November 4. And one baritone hymn is making waves in the province of the rising sun: “Sinenkinga maComrade.”
Perhaps not a hymn, but a murmur from ANC insiders who would rather be caught dead than be found crooning it publicly. The melodious murmer captures the peculiar battle unfolding in Mpumalanga’s capital city, where comrades are being forced to campaign against parts of the very political machinery they once worked alongside.
At the centre is Mandla Msibi, the former ANC provincial treasurer and one of the last prominent disciples of late former deputy president David “DD” Mabuza. Msibi is now threatening to wrest the City of Mbombela from his political siblings, and the ground is already quaking as he squares off with The Elephant of the East, Mandla Ndlovu, incumbent ANC chair. Standing between Msibi and the capital is his name's sake, who was also moulded in Mabuza's political furnace.
Ndlovu's history with Mabuza is complex, to say the least. It was Mabuza who fetched him from the dusty political terrain of Bushbuckridge and trusted him with branches of the province when he was elected ANC provincial secretary during his mentor's final term as uncontested provincial chairperson.
When Mabuza departed for national politics in 2018, Ndlovu would eventually inherit the political kingdom.
The apprentice had become custodian.
Now two products of Mabuza's political machinery have already entered the ring over its most prized urban fortress.
Msibi resigned from the ANC in April after his crushing defeat at the party's March provincial conference. A month later he resurfaced as national convener of the fledgling Service Delivery Party (SDP) and its Mbombela mayoral candidate.
READ MORE: ‘I’m done with the ANC,’ says Mandla Msibi as he quits after Mpumalanga conference
The SDP had emerged before Msibi's arrival, with its formation reported in Victor Khanye in January. Founder Thabo Motau later welcomed Msibi into the organisation at Pienaar, effectively handing the young party one of Mpumalanga's most experienced grassroots campaigners.
Its pitch is deliberately municipal: water, electricity, sanitation, roads, refuse removal, homeground job creation and accountable local government.
For Msibi, however, Mbombela is personal.
He previously served as speaker of the municipality before climbing through provincial politics and becoming one of the ANC's formidable grassroots mobilisers.
On the campaign trail, he has publicly demonstrated his intimate knowledge of the battleground, reciting each ward stretching from Hazyview across Mbombela to Barberton, Mabuza's own hometown.
But Msibi is not naive about the arithmetic.
In a video circulating among political activists, he tells MKP campaigners that theirs is the only party he would consider talking to after the November elections about combining numbers.
The remarks suggest that, beneath the bravado of campaigning for control, Msibi understands that an outright SDP majority would be an extraordinary mountain to climb.
And the ANC is fighting back.
Msibi's years as a powerful ANC figure also left disgruntled grassroots activists behind, making his departure an opportunity for some former members to return home.
Former EFF councillors have also defected back to the ANC as new brooms in berets are introduced to contest wards.
Ndlovu, meanwhile, has spent the year drawing former political heavyweights back into the ANC's orbit, borrowing from Mabuza's old “Unity Macabane” philosophy of pulling political enemies closer instead of permanently casting them out.
READ MORE: Mpumalanga’s Mandla Ndlovu invites Jacob Zuma, other defectors to return to ANC
Former premier and ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa has been brought closer to provincial government for his indefatigable investment acumen, while several former MECs have resurfaced on the boards of provincial entities, with once-forgotten constituencies trailering behind.
That strategy could become critical in Mbombela.
Former deputy minister Candith Mashego-Dlamini is among the names being discussed alongside provincial legislature Scopa chairperson Desmond Moela as possible ANC choices to replace incumbent mayor Sibongile Makhushe-Mazibuko.
The irony is delicious.
Makhushe-Mazibuko took Msibi's provincial treasury bread in March. Now the man whose political career appeared buried at that conference is returning for the municipality she governs.
This is therefore more than bad blood between two Mandlas.
It is blood at the ballot box.
Both men were shaped by Mabuza. Both inherited pieces of his political machinery. And both believe they are protecting something they helped build.
The Godfather is gone. His understudies are now fighting over the workshop. They could not speak "Mindlo to Mindlos." Now the voters must speak on their behalf. May the best son win.
