OUTSPOKEN war veteran Max Mkandla has attacked self-proclaimed Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) interim secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu, describing him as an infiltrator in the opposition political party with the aim of destroying it.
Mkandla told Tshabangu that what goes around comes around.“We need strong opposition parties, they assist to expose weaknesses of a ruling party so that the ruling party will correct its mistakes for the sake of development in the country, but now we have people like Tshabangu who are infiltrators,” Mkandla said.
“He is destroying the opposition party at a time when it is needed most. He has caused these unbudgeted for by-lections, yet civil servants are not paid enough, prices are skyrocketing due to taxes with the aim of trying to cover for these unwarranted by-elections.”He said if Tshabangu thought he has support, he should form his own party.
“The challenge that we have now is that of people who are power hungry and bankrupt. They think of infiltrating opposition parties and get away with that unpunished even if they do not have support on the ground,” Mkandla said.
“I am not supporting anyone in that party, but we hear what people are saying on the ground. We have to say it and correct what is wrong, he must know that what goes around comes around.”
The veteran of the 1970s war against colonial rule said those who did not have support on the ground always take advantage of opposition squabbles.Tshabangu’s spokesperson Khaliphani Phugeni said his boss was merely trying to return the party to its founding principles.
“The SG [secretary-general] has always said that this could have been avoided if party principles were followed. He is trying to return the party to its founding principles so that we do not find ourselves in this same situation again,” Phugeni said.
Mkandla also took a swipe at Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Affairs minister Christopher Mutsvangwa for dumping people from Bulawayo.He said during events leading to the formation of the second republic, he spearheaded the talks after making Bulawayo his second home.
“All meetings were done here in Bulawayo, chaired by people who hail from this region, but when the new dispensation was formed, he (Mutsvangwa) decided to abandon them,” he said.
Source Newsday
