Black First Land First (BLF) leader Andile Mngxitama. I Sipho Jack
Black First Land First (BLF) leader Andile Mngxitama says his organisation will play a monitoring role for the MK party in making sure that they implement their policies.
Mngxitama said Black First Land First would have their policy conference after the general elections to officially register it as a non-government organisation (NGO).
He said BLF would play a role similar to that of an Afriforum, which, according to him, would play a role as a critical player for the MK.
“I am here as a member of MK; Black First Land First is not on the ballot, so we made a decision to vote for the MK Party because we want Black Unity to maximise on numbers to be able to change the constitution.
“The reason we are basically here is to make sure that black unity is attained. Today’s event is not just a manifesto launch; it is a historic moment. A lot of people have said MK won’t fill Orlando Stadium, but we can see it’s already full,” Mngxitama said.
The BLF leader further said today’s event has proven to critics that the MK Party is one of the key players in the political space.
Despite his support for the former president’s political party, Mngxitama was concerned about the fact that the party has not mentioned its position on the land question.
“Everyone knows that I am a land person, so I have not heard MK’s stance on land. I have honestly not heard a succinct message about the expropriation of land without compensation from them.
“I’ve seen some documents purporting to be those of the MK manifesto; however, we have not seen the actual manifesto, but I am interested to see how the land matter is going to be addressed.”
Furthermore, Mngxitama said it was not the time for black people to show hesitancy and cowardice, adding that they needed to realise the dream of expropriating land without compensation.
He reiterated BLF’s position after the election of turning it into an NGO that would look after the interests of black people.
Mngxitama also said that as the NGO, they would monitor the things that the MK is promising to do.
The Star
sipho.jack@inl.co.za | goitsemang.matlhabe@inl.co.za