I FIND it very strange that Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Sicelo Shiceka blames former president Thabo Mbeki's administration for the problems in Transkei.
I FIND it very strange that Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Sicelo Shiceka blames former president Thabo Mbeki's administration for the problems in Transkei.
The area was better off under the Matanzima regime than under the ANC. Even under Nelson Mandela, Transkei was never developed. Eastern Cape premier under Mandela, the late Oom Ray Mhlaba, sidelined the area in favour of Ciskei and the border region, especially Port Elizabeth and East London. This continued under later premiers, who got rid of competent administrators because they belonged to a "bantustan" and replaced them with incompetent comrades.
Graduates from Transkei work in Gauteng because jobs are reserved for ANC comrades and unqualified relatives. Budgets are not used efficiently since there is no capacity to deal with them.
Many ANC stalwarts, including Mandela, OR Tambo, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and UDM leader Bantu Holomisa are from the region, but they chose to bury their heads in the sand when various leaders neglected the province . Holomisa raised the issue but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Under Matanzima , there were irrigation schemes, several factories and people were given assistance and job opportunities, especially in agriculture .
Though our roads were not world class, they are worse today. Shiceka should stop playing political games while people suffer. He can start by engaging graduates and academics from the area who know the problems.
KM Mabandla, Pretoria