MATABELELAND North MDC-T interim chairperson Thembinkosi Sibindi yesterday said the party’s structures from district to provincial levels had been reorganised ahead of the national elective congress slated for next month.
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“We have finished reorganising district and provincial structures ahead of the party’s national elective congress and the party’s 15th anniversary celebrations to be held at Mucheke Stadium in Masvingo on September 13,” he said.
“The district structures will be confirmed on September 24 while the provincial structures will be confirmed on October 5.
“We are happy in Matabeleland North that the animal called renewal failed to penetrate the province. Even though we have members who attempted to join it, we are glad that most of the members who were in our leadership structures have returned with the exception of the former chairman Sengezo Tshabangu and Gift Mabhena who were the provincial instigators of the renewal team.”
Sibindi said many party members in the province had shown no interest in joining the splinter group indicating that the only enemy was Zanu PF and forming a new party would not help.
“People said they do not want to be tempted to follow something like professor Welshman Ncube’s splinter MDC group which failed to yield any result and that will not help them,” he said.
“Most of those who had earlier shown interest in joining the renewal team are now backtracking to rejoin the MDC-T and we are happy about that.
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“We are calling for those who still want to come back to feel safe to do so and fear nothing. We will not expose them, but we will protect them.”
Former MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti and deputy treasurer-general Elton Mangoma broke away from the main party accusing leader Morgan Tsvangirai of dictatorship and calling on him to step down.
They accused Tsvangirai of unilaterally dragging the MDC-T into the 2013 harmonised elections as well as soiling the image of the party through his numerous love scandals.
Sibindi condemned farm invasions occurring in the province saying it was saddening that invaders were taking land from fellow blacks.
“If a black person got a farm, why is another black person invading that farm? We are tired of violence and harassment in Matabeleland.
“All the noise that Zanu PF people bring cause does not benefit locals, but outsiders and we are saying they should allow us to live in peace,” he said.
“In this province, we have quite good projects, but it’s also sad that most of the locals are not benefiting. For example, we have the Hwange National Park where rangers and the police resort to harassing villagers over wildlife yet the revenue generated from that park is taken to Harare leaving the locals poor. Locals only get harassment from the park.”
Sibindi said while the province had big companies such as the Hwange Colliery, the road network was terrible and he called for a policy shift to focus on uplifting the Matabeleland region.
