If he had he contested, Cde Ndlovu, who is also the
Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister and Bulilima
East legislator, would have faced off with Bulilima West legislator Cde
Dingumuzi Phuthi, who is also the Deputy Minister of Information Communication
Technology, Courier and Postal Services.
Cde Ndlovu’s constituency was collapsed through the
delimitation exercise, as the province did not have enough registered voters
during the time the exercise was done.
Both Cde Ndlovu and Cde Phuthi command huge support in the
area.
In an interview, Cde Ndlovu said although the decision not
to contest was not any easy one, he had to take it for the greater good.
“Sometimes as leaders it is very important to know that it
is not about you being in a position, it is about the party delivering. It is
about the people loving their party and you making sure that you do what you
can to promote that. I took some thorough introspection and I am so happy that
I arrived at this decision, it was not an easy one. It would have resulted in a
very brutal fight which I think could not work for the achievement of our goals
as a collective,” he said.
“For me the bigger fight is to make sure that the ruling
party wins all the constituencies in the province. We need a very strong
coordinated campaign. We need to have time to articulate the good works that
our President has been doing under the Second Republic. So, I looked at it and
I said for me to be able to pull in weight and dedicate my time to the entire
province, I should not contest. I do not think I needed to go in and fight with
Hon Phuthi whom I believe is more than capable of delivering, because he is
someone I grew up with in politics and I believe that he will represent the
party very well.”
Cde Ndlovu said his constituency was affected by the
delimitation due to the low number of registered voters.
“You would recall that nine constituencies out of 13 in Mat
South failed to meet the minimum threshold of registered voters and ZEC
identified my constituency Bulilima East as the one to give way and push the
numbers for all the remaining eight, and my constituency collapsed as a result.
It meant that the bigger part of what was my constituency then moved to support
the survival of the other eight to remain with twelve constituencies. My
withdrawal, I did before submission of the applications in Harare, contrary to
some misguided elements that say I withdrew at the 11th hour, whatever that
means. This gives me the opportunity to focus on mobilizing the whole province to
vote resoundingly for our President, our national assembly and local authority
candidates in the upcoming harmonised elections,” he said.
Cde Ndlovu said he did not have any difficulty passing the
reins to Cde Phuthi to represent the people of Bulilima as he was going to
represent them well in Parliament and win the constituency for the ruling
party.
He said he was going to meet the grassroots over the
weekend to explain his decision and rally the people to support the new party
candidate who will continue with the work to fulfil the President’s vision.
Meanwhile, some members from the constituency have hailed
the MP for his work ethic in developing the constituency.
Chief Mphini said the decision by Cde Ndlovu not to contest
has not gone well with people in the constituency due to his approach to
development matters.
He said the reconfiguration of the constituency was a
negative development as the new MP will have more work to do.
“It is a big loss because he was able to separate politics
and development and work with everyone. We have a councillor who is not from
his party in our area and he did not sideline him, abantu bayakhala kakhulu. He
is a pro-development minded person, just look at the number of clinics, schools
and community projects like gardens and youth projects he initiated and those
he supported. Cde Phuthi will have a challenge because the constituency is now
very big and they will need to find a way of working together somehow,” said
Chief Mphini.
Gwambe Clinic Project (South African chapter) chairman Mr
Descent Lungwane Moyo said it is a bitter pill to swallow for the project as
the legislator was a hands-on person.
“It is hard to accept that he will not be our MP after the
elections because his commitment to the development of our area was marvellous.
We had lots of challenges in building our clinic and he always motivated us
when the going got tough. Beside supplying us with lots of materials and his
equipment he would put on a work suit and join us in working. We will miss him
a lot because he was able to bring everyone across the political divide for the
good of the community,” said Mr Moyo.
A school head in one of the schools in Bulilima East
constituency who did not want to be identified due to ministry protocols said
they benefited a lot from the legislator.
The head said although disappointing, it was not shocking
that Cde Ndlovu took the decision not to contest as he was a selfless person.
“Generally, he is a great leader and he relates well with
the community at large. Vision 2030 is at his heart; he wants to see an upper
middle class. He is the founder of the secondary school and assisted in
building clinics and donating state-of-art science laboratories. He has been
instrumental in assisting the Second Republic to cascade quality, inclusive and
equitable education, even community empowerment through projects. He is a
leader who has the national interest at heart,” said the head. Herald
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