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NNLC TO NEW SENATOR: WHY DID YOU JUMP SHIP?

16/08/2020 00:01:00 BY WELCOME DLAMINI

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MBABANE – Jimmy Hlophe might have won a seat in Senate but his past life as a member of the NNLC still lingers on.

The NNLC is the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress, which is one of the oldest political parties in the kingdom as it was founded in 1963, and the newly-elected senator was once a member and office bearer of this organisation.

In 2005, much against the NNLC’s decision to boycott any elections under the Tinkhundla System of Government, Hlophe contested and won a parliamentary seat as a representative of the Mahlangatsha constituency.

Hlophe won a special election that was conducted after the death of the previous Mahlangatsha MP.

He made it clear that he joined the election in his personal capacity and that he had a responsibility to represent all the people in his constituency.

He later announced through the media that he had resigned from the NNLC.

Sibongile Mazibuko, the incumbent NNLC president, said they still had unanswered questions on why Hlophe decided to denounce the organisation.

She said what was worse was that he never formally engaged the organisation on his decision, but they learnt through the media that he had resigned.

Mazibuko said since then, Hlophe never returned to the NNLC but they respected his decision because they believed in the concept of freedom of choice.

She, however, said they would like to know from him the reasons that led to him abandoning the organisation.

“I don’t know what caused Hlophe’s dive to the other side. Some people are driven by stomach politics and dive to the other side because they see a buffet; they then sell their souls to the other side.

“But I don’t want to say that about Hlophe; he is the one who knows what drove him to leave NNLC; whether he too was driven by stomach politics, like the biblical Esau to eventually give up his birthright, or whether there are other reasons. He is the one who knows best, but we are left to speculate. We have questions but don’t want to draw any conclusions. We wonder why he left because it is not easy to leave the NNLC. Even those that defected have now come back in large numbers,” Mazibuko said.

He credited Hlophe for not having spoken ill about NNLC despite having denounced the organisation.

She said there were those who, when they dive to the other side, decide to speak badly about the organisation.

She said she would not even come close to calling Hlophe a sell-out for having decided to go against the NNLC’s decision not to participate in the election process.

“I would not call him a sell-out because that would imply he took NNLC’s information and shared it with another camp. I only choose to say less of him because he is no longer our member and it wouldn’t be fair to talk about him. He is now a member of another organisation,” Mazibuko said.

He would be welcomed back

The retired teacher and former president of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) said they would, nonetheless, welcome back Hlophe if he decided to return to the organisation.

“But he would have to re-apply because that’s how you join the NNLC. It would then be up to the relevant committee to consider whether his application is acceptable or not. The committee has the powers to decide on the re-admissibility of former members. All would depend on the gravity associated with his leaving because there are different reasons that cause a person to leave an organisation,” she said.

Mazibuko said Hlophe was born into the NNLC and was even part of its youth league structures; and that he made a great impact during the time he served the organisation.

“We don’t know what really happened. He really needs to explain and we can only speculate. We need to also look at what had surrounded him to cause his departure from the NNLC. We all know that even the children of Israel, once they were starving in the desert, remembered the food they used to eat in Egypt. But I can firmly state that our members always return to the organisation. Even with Hlophe, with time, he will come back...they always do,” she stated.

Hlophe, on the other hand, confirmed that he had not returned to the NNLC ever since his infamous announcement in 2005 that he had resigned from the organisation. He said he still had newspaper cuttings of articles where he was quoted as having resigned from the NNLC.

No comment yet - Holphe

But he pleaded with this publication to be given time until he has been sworn-in and then he could begin giving interviews to the media.

“I have a plea; my family, as my political advisers, has asked that I should desist from making any political statements for now but concentrate on prayer until I have been sworn in and thereafter I would be free to respond to any questions the media might have. For now there is nothing I can say. If I say anything I would be in breach of the agreement with my family,” he said.

The senator said he was not afraid of anything but was simply honouring the agreement he had made with his family.

“We are in prayer until the swearing-in. I wouldn’t like my mind to be distracted from the prayer I’ve embarked on. This is by the will of God and I wouldn’t want to deviate. I know and respect the institute of the media but for now I am not saying anything, especially about my past political life,” Hlophe added.

Hlophe won the senate seat after beating his only competitor, Bongani Comfort Matsebula, by 10 votes.

The two were the only candidates who eventually contested for the position to replace the late senator, Mike Temple, after one of the candidates, Sifiso Nkhundleni Mabuza, was disqualified from the race.

Mabuza did not meet the taxation requirement following that investigations had uncovered that he had for years been allegedly violating the Income Tax Order 21 of 1975.

It was further revealed that Mabuza had obtained the Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) on the basis of allegedly giving false information to the Commissioner of Taxes.

Hlophe is not the only person to have contested for a seat in parliament while being a member of the NNLC.

Former Prime Minister, the late Obed Dlamini, also ran for a seat and won under the Nhlambeni constituency. Reports also indicate that one Boniface Mamba also participated in the elections but did not win.

Last December, in its end of year statement, the central executive of the NNLC called for the registration of political parties and said if this did not happen they would resort to other forms to see it through.

The political party said the authorities must unban and allow the registration of political parties to prepare for transition to multiparty democracy peacefully.

Through the statement, Secretary General Moses Ndlela said they would not like a situation where the problem was resolved through other means, and in their view, the time was now.

The statement addressed a lot of issues that transpired in 2019 and, among them, was the expression of shock to hear the Prime Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, wishing emaSwati a happy Christmas when there was no cost- of-living adjustment (CoLA) for three years and no grants for the elderly.