Former African National Congress (ANC) Deputy President David Mabuza has for the first time publicly shed light on his decision to decline nomination to contest for re-election at the party’s 55th national conference held in Nasrec, Johannesburg.
Mabuza, who spoke exclusively to SABC News said he declined to stand, after being nominated from the floor, because the position of Deputy President was highly contested and he didn’t want to deepen divisions in the party.
Speaking at his farm in Barberton, Mpumalanga, Mabuza said he is fully behind the newly elected ANC leadership.
“To minimise contestation, and to allow a bit of cohesion to the ANC we don’t contest for our own personal feeling, we contest because we want to add value to the organisation, sitting here I am okay with the leadership that has emerged if well supported, the leadership can take the party forward, if it can get the necessary support” says Mabuza.
In the video below, Deputy President David Mabuza sheds more light on his decision:
Mabuza says the energy crisis pre-dates the current administration. He says it is a challenge of successive administrations that failed to invest in the maintenance of Eskom power plants.
He said the country will continue to experience rolling blackouts for some time until investment is made in generation capacity.
“We did not do much, that is required but I must emphasise the point that this problem has not been created overnight it dates back a long time because if you want to create a country that is energy secured, you plan and build infrastructure at an appropriate time, the building of Medupi and Kusile was a bit late, the problem was already starting to sink in, that these power stations are old, we were running them without the necessary maintenance,” Mabuza added.
