Ms Duduzile Promise Manana - ANC

Political background: I am from Driekoppies Malelane district in Mpumalanga. I joined the ANC formally in 1994 whereas; I had been involved since the age of 12 years before then.

I then served in the ANCYL as an additional member in the executive structure of the Malelane branch in the party the following year, which was 1995. In 1996 I moved to Witbank (Emalahleni) where I was also nominated to be an additional executive member in the actual ANC and not its youth wing. I moved back to Malelane in 1997 and continued my activism within the party as an ordinary member back at the youth league again. I had finished Matric in 1994 and had gone on to higher learning at Damelin distance learning College. I started working in the private sector from 1999 to 2008, when I progressed on to become the Deputy Secretary (DS) of the ANC in Malelane for the period 2008-2012. I left the private sector and moved onto the public sector in 2012. In the same year, I was nominated to serve as an additional member of the Executive of the ANCWL regional structure in Ehlanzeni.

In 2013 when, I ceased to be the DS in Malelane, the ANC opened a new branch in Mpumalanga where I was elected Chairperson until the 2014 National General Elections. The 23 branches of Ehlanzeni decided to nominate me to be on the ANC provincial list, whereupon the remaining two regions agreed with Ehlanzeni that I should go on to the National list as a candidate for Member of Parliament (MP) for the ANC.

What are you looking forward to as a new MP? Deliberating, amending and passing of new legislation. I am also looking forward to holding municipalities accountable to their communities by bringing prolonged and unresolved service delivery issues to Parliament by doing oversight tours and calling departments to assist in resolving those issues.

What does your job as an MP entail? My job as an MP entails reading up and preparing for presentations by the entities that belong to Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA). I also get updates on Strategic Plans (SPs) and Annual Performance Plans (APPs) of the department. During plenary sessions, the political party assigns presentation duties to individual members on particular motions.

What are you looking forward to in engaging in constituency work? I have remained a member of the Ehlanzeni region, Mlumati zone in Mpumalanga, where I have so far requested local club owners to participate in sport and recreation Infrastructure Development Plans (IDPs) in their respective municipalities. The significance about club owner participation in such IDPs is the fact that municipalities receive a 15% Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) from National Treasury (NT) which is allocated for Sport and Recreation infrastructure, its maintenance and the development of sport in general. So far, municipalities have been failing to utilise that money for its purposes because club managers are still lamenting being charged to use a municipal grader to level sporting fields in rural areas, even though there is the MIG.

Moreover I have organised an outreach programme for the Ehlanzeni constituency on Gender Based Violence, where Sonke Gender Justice, the South African Police Services (SAPS), Greater Rape Intervention Project (GRIP), home based caregivers and the Commission for Gender Equality came and presented to women, young and old, on where and how to access assistance.

My message to South Africa is that citizens should know and exercise their rights, especially those in rural areas. There is enough information out there to advise, for example, a rural resident on how to get home after they have been discharged from hospital without having to pay a cent: Which is why rural South Africans must ensure that every imbizo that comes to their areas, is well attended. Moreover I hope that we get to the completion of the geographical name changes both in townships and rural areas so that there are street names, and ambulances can easily access those places using GPS coordinates.

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