Dear Numsa News

The road to Mangaung has deep potholes. Careful consideration is vital while waiting for the ANC NEC to officially open the succession debate so that branches can start deliberating.

But the leadership race has long been debated under the carpet. The gloves are off.

We need to carefully discuss succession, conscious of its fundamental importance in fast-tracking service delivery to the masses: the poor and the working class in particular.

However, tension is high over what we need to do to address the plight of us, the workers, going forward. So we need to be careful, as we go to Mangaung, to elect leaders that are truly biased towards workers and the poor.

We need economic freedom in our lifetime. We need nationalisation, we need service delivery and we need land.

We have suffered for a long time as Africans, and as black people in particular, in our own motherland. We have become slaves in our own country. We have had to sell our labour cheaply in our own country. So where is this revolution we have sung about?

That is why this second phase of the transition must be well positioned in favour of the poor and the workers of this land. We need to enjoy the fruits of our hard-earned economy – then we all shall be free.

So let us drive carefully on this road to the ANC birthplace in the city of roses. Let us go and elect leaders that are ready to give the economy back to its custodians, the working class of South Africa.

Gomolemo Washington posted this on the Numsa Youth Forum Facebook page