Holomisa touted to be next Eastern Cape premier

THE Eastern Cape could do with a morally upright leader like General Bantu Holomisa, who will make sure that people’s needs are taken care of, said Kuhle Ndyebo.

He said he was not a UDM member, but would vote for the party as he loved its leader, Holomisa.

“General is the kind of leader our province needs. In fact, our country needs a leader of his stature, someone who will get the job done ‒ not a populist. In the years that I have known him, I have not heard in a single day that he is involved in corruption scandal or any kind.

“I just hope that many of my peers would come out and vote in their numbers in order to make sure that we vote him in as our premier here in the Eastern Cape,” he said.

Ndyebo said communities were suffering from many social ill and the government was not doing enough to address them.

The 28-year-old NU7, Motherwell, Eastern Cape resident was reacting to Holomisa’s announcement at a prayer service held in Port Elizabeth at the weekend that he would avail himself to be the province’s premier candidate.

Before announcing his candidacy, Holomisa said he was approached countless times by traditional leaders, religious groupings and civil society organisations.

He said he was approached by people both within his organisation and outside who said that they would vote for him, regardless of their political affiliation.

“There was also a UDM provincial congress resolution, where it was decided that the Eastern Cape structures of the UDM wanted me to run for premier in the elections.

“The fortunate fact is that I have the experience of running a government with discipline and order, where we created jobs, where poverty was at its lowest ebb, the courts functioned, the environment was neat and clean, pensions were paid, and we did not live in fear of criminals.

“In principle, I have therefore agreed to avail myself to be the UDM’s candidate for the Eastern Cape premier,” UDM leader said.

Furthermore, he said he would still campaign for the organisation across the length and breadth of the country as he was still the party’s national leader.

“If the UDM does well on 29 May, we will arrange that the Independent Electoral Commission changes the UDM’s candidates’ list in the allowed window period after elections.

“If this change succeeds, the UDM’s deputy president, Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, will have to step up to the plate and be the de facto president of the party while assisting in governing the Eastern Cape,” he explained.

One of his priorities as Eastern Cape premier would be to promote the need to have a Government of National Unity (GNU) model as an executive in the province.

“During my time as head of government in Transkei, we unbanned the various Struggle organisations, such as the ANC, Azapo, PAC etc in 1989 and I have worked well with all sorts.

“Cadre deployment will be a thing of the past, and after a skills audit, top leadership in public administration will be filled by virtue of skills and qualifications so that we can lead this province out of this quagmire,” Holomisa said.

The Star

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