Dry taps to the council chamber, the Makhanda Archbishop who says he’s no politician

Résumé détaillé

The leader of the Makana United Civic Movement has no interest in political leadership – he just wants to see the town where he grew up restored to a properly functioning…

The leader of the Makana United Civic Movement has no interest in political leadership – he just wants to see the town where he grew up restored to a properly functioning municipality with good governance and service delivery.

Walking down the streets of Makhanda with Archbishop Nkosinathi Ngesi is a time-consuming journey.

His pace is actually quite quick, and at no point did the conversation feel laboured or boring. It was slow-going because the church leader made time to greet every person passing him on the street, many of them by name.

He waved at shopkeepers as he passed, shook hands with several passers-by and waved at people across the street who recognised him from a distance.

It was clear why – his political party, the Makana United Civic Movement (MUCM), came into the local government elections as somewhat of a dark horse, surprising everyone by taking close to 20% of the votes and ending up as the third-biggest party in the Makana municipal council with four seats.

“We are not politicians. We are residents of Makhanda. I was born here, and while my life has taken me many other places, I came back here. All I want is to see good governance and service delivery return to the people of Makhanda and the surrounding communities,” Ngesi said.

MUCM was registered as a political party only a few months before the 4 November elections, but its roots as activist and civic movement dates back nearly a decade to the founding of the Makhanda Legends.

“Myself and a group of like-minded people started Makhanda Legends as a way of giving the residents of Makana a voice. We noticed the failings of government and wanted to raise awareness and offer solutions.

“For years we organised marches against water outages and crumbling roads, taking the people’s concerns directly to the local government officials. There was never any response from the municipality while city officials persisted with the same inadequate measures and expecting a different result,” Ngesi said.

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