The ANC’s campaign and door-to-door visits hit a snag on Saturday May 4 when some community members in Pienaar, especially the elderly citizens, wanted to be addressed by their ‘son’, Mandla Msibi.
Msibi, who was recently suspended from the ANC and subsequently given a three-year ban with two years suspended on condition he is not found guilty of similar charges, is known in the Pienaar area for his caring heart, especially for the less privileged.
He is said to have been helping a number of destitute community members and families bury their loved ones and feeding the orphans and the vulnerable.
A number of local young people are also said to be furthering their studies at various tertiary institutions, having been helped by Msibi.
Community members and those close to his homestead in Pienaar say he has turned his home into an emergency centre, to where hundreds of community members, including church leaders, turn in times of despair.
On this particular Saturday, the ANC and the youth league had a huge community campaign and conducted door-to-door visits in Pienaar and KaNyamazane, where some concerned elderly citizens asked for Msibi.
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“We don’t have a problem with you visiting us here at home today, but we would have loved to be visited and addressed by familiar faces. Where is Mandla? We don’t know you like we know him, but we don’t have a problem with your visit. Mandla is like a son to us,” said Gogo Rose Mary Nkosi when she and her family were visited by some youth league members.
Even local church leaders joined the chorus and asked for Msibi. Some pastors told the youth league members to ask him to organise a prayer session for all the religious groupings in the area ahead of the national and provincial elections.
“This is the reason why we need people like him, who understand the issues of our community. I personally don’t really know the processes of the ANC, but I know and everyone knows that if Msibi were as active as he has always been, he would have organised us as church leaders for a mass prayer for the elections long ago,” said Pr Glen Mazibuko.
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Despite the confusion among some senior citizens, the ANC’s campaign went ahead smoothly.
