Vhembe ANC regional executive committee (REC) member Simon Mavikane has fired a broadside at chairperson Tshitereke Matibe, accusing him of presiding over the VBS scandal and seeking a fourth term for selfish reasons. 

He says Matibe, Limpopo’s Economic Development, Environment and Tourism MEC, treats the chairperson position like a chieftaincy to which he is entitled till death. Premier Phophi Ramathuba appointed Matibe as MEC after the May 29 general elections. 

Mavikane, a senior official in the Collins Chabane Municipality in Limpopo, leads a slate pushing to unseat Matibe as regional chairperson in next year’s Vhembe Regional Conference. It includes current Vhembe ANC regional secretary and former Limpopo ANC Youth League (ANCYL) chairperson Rudzani Ludere, who seeks to retain his position. 

In an interview with African Times, Mavikane attacked Matibe’s leadership style, saying it is out-of-date and divisive. 

“He [Matibe] is dividing the Vhembe region. He loves divisions. This is why I want to unite this region. He is very selfish. I want to help all people in the region. With numbers, if the conference were to take place tomorrow, we would win. It is time’s up for him,” Mavikane said. 

“I want change in the leadership style of the organisation as we all know the incumbent chairperson wants the fourth term. ANC is just an organisation, but the most important thing is to change people’s lives. I want to push service delivery from the organisational level to the people. I want people to be employed. I will continue to encourage and motivate youth to focus on education,” he explained.

Mavikane, vying for the regional top seat for the first time, also enjoys support from party leaders like former Makhado Municipality Mayor Samuel Munyai; Ludere, who wants a second term; Livhuwani Ligabara, who is contesting incumbent Deputy Secretary Miyelani Chauke (who replaced late Collins Chabane Mayor Moses Maluleke); and incumbent Treasurer, Mihloti Muhlophe. 

According to Mavikane, the Collins Chabane Local Municipality Head of Technical Service, the ANC “looks like a dying” party under leaders like Matibe, who has been in charge for over a decade. 

“Another thing is that the ANC looks like a dying organisation, so we want to restore it to its former glory. You saw we lost the last elections (29 May national election). If we unite the ANC Vhembe region, it means we unite all the people in Vhembe. We have played a pivotal role to see that the ANC governs Limpopo alone,” he added. 

Mavikane says he is the best man to replace Matibe because of his extensive political and governance experience. He has been an ANC member for more than 30 years, he says, and occupied senior positions in councils where he helped drive service delivery. 

“I lead a very crucial portfolio in the municipality, and we are winning awards in the province regarding service delivery. In the last financial year, we won an award for Best Municipality Infrastructure Grant spending. I want to continue with that so that people in Vhembe can get water. Water is the biggest crisis in the region. We will try by all means to lobby funds from national departments to help people here get water. All the unfinished projects must be completed so that people will get water. You can see villages like Dumela and Xihosani have unfinished projects. I will never clap hands for people who invested money in VBS. People have been robbed of service delivery because money was wasted in VBS,” he said.

The Vhembe District Municipality (VDM), for which Matibe was politically responsible, was among Limpopo municipalities that illegally invested in the VBS bank and lost hundreds of millions of rands in taxpayers’ money.

Limpopo Deputy ANC Chairperson Florence Radzilani was Vhembe District Municipality mayor at the time. From 2015 to 2017, the Vhembe District Municipality irregularly invested more than R1 billion with VBS, losing R300 million. 

Local municipalities in Vhembe that also lost money include Makhado Local Municipality and Collins Chabane Local Municipality. From 2016 to 2017, the Makhado Local Municipality irregularly invested R155 million with VBS, losing R60 million. In October 2017, the Collins Chabane Local Municipality irregularly invested R120 million with VBS and lost R120 million.

Mavikane has attributed the VBS scandal to Matibe’s lack of leadership, saying he would have done better had he been in charge when public funds were flushed down the drain. He admitted that the scandal dented the party’s image. 

“The VBS saga was bad. It affected the people of Vhembe. I can never clap hands for that. People who invested money in VBS have destroyed the ANC’s reputation because many of them were leaders of the party when they did that. That money was supposed to render services to the people. It was very wrong to invest money in a mutual bank. If I get a chance to lead these municipalities, I will do so very carefully. I will save the taxpayers’ money,” Mavikane stressed. 

When asked to comment on Mavikane’s statement and the upcoming regional conference on Tuesday, Matibe said he could not comment as he focused on the Thabazimbi Local Municipality by-election, due on Wednesday, December 04. “I am in Thabazimbi now as I speak. I am focusing on the by-elections here. I cannot comment now,” he said.

Matibe is believed to have the backing of Vhembe District Mayor Freda Nkondo, Makhado Mayor Dorcus Mboyi, and Musina Local Municipality Chief Whip Fistos Mafela, who are vying for senior top-five positions. 

In November, the ANC Vhembe Spokesperson, Gumani Mukwevho, said the region was ready to host the much-anticipated ninth regional conference in March 2025.

“We have not confirmed the venue as yet. We have the roadmap that has everything. Remember, with venues we must first view quotations and so on and so forth. Issues of accommodation of delegates, we are dealing with logistics. I would not tell how many delegates are expected. There should be an audit, a final audit, to tell us how many memberships we have in Vhembe. In terms of branches, how are we allocating branches?”

“Because with branches, usually 100 is two delegates, extra 250 is three delegates. Our branches are big. I would lie to you and say we are expecting 200 delegates whilst it’s 300, or say we are expecting 300 whilst it’s 500, you see,” Mukwevho added.

 The Matibe camp is expected to field the following candidates:

* Chairperson: Tshitereke Matibe.
* Deputy Chairperson: Fridah Nkondo (Vhembe Executive Mayor).
* Secretary: Miyelani Chauke.
* Deputy Secretary: Dorcus Mboyi (Makhado Mayor).
* Treasurer: Fistos Mafela (Chief Whip of Musina).

The Mavikane camp’s expected candidates are:

* Chairperson: Simon Mavikane.
* Deputy Chairperson: Samuel Munyai.
* Secretary: Rudzani Ludere.
* Deputy Secretary: Livhuwani Ligaraba.
* Treasurer: Mihloti Muhlophe.