Mbali Ntuli Returns but under a Different Cloak

Following the results of the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) federal conference in 2020, I published an opinion piece on City Press that began thus: “It is now history that Mbali Ntuli’s Rhodes University degree could not prevail over John Steenhuisen’s matric certificate for the position of DA federal leader. This…the same party whose political yarn is spun around merit – not race – being the qualifier to better things.”

Just as he has done earlier this month against another hopeful candidate, Mpho Phalatse, Steenhuisen had made a brisk piecemeal of Ntuli. Questions swarmed in the wake of her defeat, the media wondering what her next move might be? Would she stick with the party or go the way of Lindiwe Mazibuko and other black leaders who found themselves disillusioned and ultimately severed all ties with the DA? 

Around this time, the party was waving some astounding, if not ridiculous, views around. Race, according to the them, wasn’t even really a thing anymore. Therefore, they were adamant, race-based legislation of redress should be scrapped. Hinged on libertarian foundations, the party saw merit to be the only surefooted instrument to improving the country and the lives of its people, millions of whom are either impoverished or unemployed. Needless to say such obtuse, tone-deaf sentiments alienated anybody who had so much as read about the brutal legacies of colonialism, apartheid and their legitimate offspring – white privilege. Ntuli herself had had a rather strained relationship with Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille. Daughter of a self-made taxi mogul, “Big Ben” Ntuli, she was always going to have a tough time taking issues lying down. As such she often fell out of favour with “the establishment” particularly when she was critical about the direction the party was taking.

Helen Zille as Premier of the Western Cape, 2012. Image: Wikipedia

In the aftermath, Ntuli would slip quietly from the public limelight, resigning from both her office in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature and party membership. She would announce that politics were clearly not the vehicle that would enable her to make a more impactful contribution to society. And for a while, except maybe for her social media followers, the rest of South Africa had little idea of what she was getting up to. 

Then on Tuesday (April 18), a year after her unceremonious departure, she popped up all aglow in front of the cameras to shed some light on her new venture. She is now the proud founder and CEO of the non-profit organisation, Ground Work Collective (GWC). “As a public representative,” said Ntuli, “I took seriously the job South Africans entrusted me to do. When I left active politics a year ago, I said I would go back to communities and work on the ground. This has always been most important to me. GWC is the result of the work.”

She continued; “Amongst the many things I was tired of when I left politics the main was the political point scoring across the board which daily seemed to erode our country of hope for real change. GWC is my way to try and re-kindle that hope.”

Through this initiative, the Rhodes University alumna seeks to go back to the core imperatives of all development; training, skills and education. “Even though South Africans want to make this country work, they have little idea how it actually works. In not understanding how things work, people do not know how to make the country and its politicians work for them.”

The Core Pillars

GWC’s three main pillars are: 

Food Production

Skills Development and Entrepreneurship 

Democracy and Civic Participation 

On the first score, Ntuli wants people to have food security. This she hopes to achieve the old-fashioned way; through home and community-based gardens, and providing the skills to make these viable through adequate training. She wants to see “increased entrepreneurial activity by young people to contribute to the socio-economic development of their communities.” 

Part of Mbali Ntuli’s vision; to take it back to basics. Image: Mbali Ntuli Facebook page.

Lastly, she is irked by how, owing to a generally depressing political climate and lacking citizen knowledge on the workings of the country, swathes of people are no longer interested in casting their votes. Through rigorous civic education, she endeavours to give “citizens information on the system of government: the nature and powers of the offices: the principal economic, social and political issues facing the nation; the value of democracy: how to utilise legislation to use their rights to hold political players accountable.” She stresses that there is a marginal difference between voter and civic education, with the latter allowing for active participation rather than citizens being reduced to a passive voting fodder every five years.

Grooming and Supporting Change-Makers

GWC seeks to help change-makers who are sometimes hampered by lacking resources and without connections in their pursuit to improve their communities. The organisation will also see that expert mentors and personnel are made available to people on the ground. Moreover, they also endeavour to be the platform wherefrom marginalised and often forgotten communities are able to tell their stories.

Backyard gardens and youth participation in the economy is something Mbali Ntuli is passionate about. Image: Mbali Ntuli Facebook page.

Ntuli’s media briefing was peppered with some poignant and valid quotables; “it is not enough,” she said, “for an electoral outcome or that the electoral system is technically sound. Our history demands of us that after exercising our right we must take responsibility for electoral outcomes – whatever they are – and ensure elected parties and politicians honour their manifestos. 

“We cannot abdicate this responsibility. Nobody in South Africa can afford to not be into politics anymore. I say this not to shame people who are rightfully overwhelmed at the circus that is our politics.But if we want to end this madness it is going to require all of us to understand that whether or not you choose to understand politics, you are at risk of outsourcing decision making to people who may be the least qualified to make them.”

Another that I’m sure would’ve made for a good soundbite was how she felt that “Being political does not mean we have to be partisan.” To this end she was resolute that what most South Africans earnestly desire is the opportunity to uplift themselves. In the main, they are far from being loafers who only want government handouts, instead they seek the means to dig themselves out of the poverty and squalor that many find themselves in. Needless to say that Ntuli believes that GWC has precisely those means. 

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1 thought on “Mbali Ntuli Returns but under a Different Cloak”

  1. GWC can only be a positive contributor, so one wishes Ntuli all the very best. The pillars of the movement seem on target, and require the unbounded commitment we all know has to be. Whether this can be achieved through the tools of Critical Race Theory can be a useful debate, though often it seems the arrows are worn-out cries evaporating into useless mimicry of race and colonial would-be-alikes… A great irony of our times, thinks I.

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