National Assembly post for Ugu councillor
Busaphi Machi who recently resigned as an Ugu councillor was sworn in as an IFP member of the National Assembly in Cape Town recently.
Ugu District Municipality councillor Busaphi Eleonor Machi recently vowed to take issues faced by residents to national government.
Machi, who recently resigned as an Ugu councillor, was sworn in as an IFP member of the National Assembly in Cape Town recently.
After the May 29 elections, the IFP won 17 seats in Parliament. Machi joined Inkosi Bhekizizwe Nivard Luthuli of the Mathulini Traditional Council in Mtwalume as an IFP parliamentary member from the Ugu district.
Speaking to Fever, Machi said it will now be easy to emphasise the needs of the people of Ugu and the rest of the country to national government.
She explained that while she was still a councillor, members of the national government visited the district for inspections and oversights, saying that they left the region having made promises that were difficult to follow up on.
“There are some problems that require the national government’s attention, so now that I have been sworn in, I will be able to sit on certain committees, I will be able to bring up issues raised by Ugu residents. If an issue cannot be addressed by the committee I am in, I still have the right to raise those concerns where it needs to be addressed,” she said.
She added that some of the biggest issues faced by Ugu residents are the lack of water and power outages.
Machi said that when people visit places such as London, they don’t wish to return because they get to enjoy things that are scarce in South Africa. Some are forced to come back because they do not have enough money to live in other countries.
Meanwhile, Machi explained that her love for politics started while she was still a teacher.
She worked as a teacher for 12 years and as a principal for 25 years.
“When I was a teacher, I loved politics. I realised that there were things one could not do unless they focused on politics. Although it was public knowledge which party I was affiliated to, I made sure that it did not interfere with my work. The area where I taught had no high school. We worked hard for a high school to be built so that learners didn’t have to walk long distances. That is how Mashesha High was built,” she said.
Machi explained that she started working for the community in 2007 after being sworn in as a councillor at the then Hibiscus Coast Municipality, now known as Ray Nkonyeni.
She added that she was sworn in as a councillor in Ugu in 2016.
Speaking on her appointment, Machi said that being a member of the National Assembly was not something she had anticipated, saying that working for the community is something that she has always enjoyed.
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