MBOMBELA – The 30-member Mpumalanga Legislature is complete once more. Mr James Masango was sworn in as the DA’s third member on Wednesday.
The party’s former leader in legislature Mr Anthony Benadie resigned earlier this month. Masango moved to the National Assembly after the general elections in 2014. He has served in the legislature before. As the party’s provincial leader he says he is required to sit here. He was elected provincial leader unopposed during the DA’s conference in March.
But he confesses to preferring parliament, a body he started out serving in 2004. “It is bigger and you are exposed to more people.”
On the other hand, coming home (Masango hails from Secunda) would give him the opportunity to respond to the concerns of the people in real time, as he puts it. And he is here to make sure the ruling ANC does what they promise. The ruling party has 24 MPLs, the Economic Freedom Fighters two and the Bushbuckridge Residents Association one.
“The most pressing issues facing people in Mpumalanga are unemployment and the economy. We have agriculture, we should create more jobs. We are blessed with minerals. We have tourism. We should make it more attractive.”
Ahead of the 2016 local elections, poor service delivery remains a big concern. “We are hearing that we may face water shedding. In some municipalities there are sewage spilling into the streets. Unfortunately the challenges are a part of people’s daily lives.”
“We must close inequality and make Mpumalanga a better place to live. We are one nation with one future.”
He says interviews will be conducted this weekend to find a replacement for his vacant position in the National Assembly, and a decision is expected to be made by September 9.
