Durban — Sheshile Ngubane, who was once in the mining business with Khulubuse Zuma and Zondwa Mandela, both relatives of former state presidents, has ambitions to become the premier of KwaZulu-Natal.
The provincial leader of the All Citizens Party (ACP), Ngubane, who is originally from Msinga but grew up in Chesterville, has promised to change policies that prevent young black people from accessing funding from financial institutions.
He has also pledged to reopen mines that are no longer in operation, so that youth could venture into the field.
Ngubane said he worked for Ithala Bank between 1992 and 2002, first as a commercial adviser before he was promoted to write loans and later represent clients in various committees.
“Before 1994, we (Ithala) only serviced Africans, then Indians and coloureds joined in. The bank applied stringent policies that made it complicated for poor people to secure loans to start businesses. The current government reversed all the good things we got in the previous years,” he said.
Although Ngubane is number five on the party’s provincial election candidate list, he said the party believed he was capable of leading the provincial government.
He said it pained him to see the township economy being dominated by foreign nationals, something that was rare when he worked for Ithala.
“The township economy no longer belongs to us because we no longer have access to credit.
“Last week I went to Ithala Bank pretending to be looking for a commercial loan and the requirements were so stiff,” he said.
Ngubane said if the ACP won the elections, it would turn the wheel around.
However, he said this would only benefit people who were card-carrying members of his party, whose national leader is former health care practitioner Dr Senathi Fisha.
Fisha is also looking forward to becoming the first democratically elected woman state president.
Although the ACP was formed last September and has hardly been heard of in the province, Ngubane said it would win “the David versus Goliath” battle on May 29 because the party enjoyed support from traditional leaders who had abandoned the Umkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP).
“I need all black sugar-cane growers to be part of the ACP because I am going to supply them with 5000 machines. I will get them from China through BRICS. I will have agreements with all people who are in the sugarcane industry,” he said.
He said the machines would be used to process sugar cane into sugar and animal feed.
Ngubane, who holds a business management diploma from the Durban University of Technology, said after he had left Ithala he ventured into mining and became co-director of Aurora Mining along with Zuma junior, Mandela junior and others.
He blamed white monopoly capital for destroying the company and black business people’s dreams.
“A white man will never wish for a black man in this country to prosper which is why black economic empowerment beneficiaries are failing. It happened to me.
“I served in that environment and I know exactly what white people do to raise capital. It is not rocket science but they make sure that as a black person you never succeed,” he said.
Sunday Tribune