Al-Qalam 
The former acting eThekwini mayor is pleased to be co-opted into the ANC’s National Executive Committee. She believes the best way to restore faith in the party would be to focus on service delivery, writes Nabeelah Shaikh.
Former acting eThekwini mayor Fawzia Peer is elated that she will soon be making a political comeback – this time at a national level after she was co-opted as a member of the African National Congress’s National Executive Committee.
The announcement was made earlier this week when the party took a decision to co-opt four members in order to provide a balanced representation that reflects the “true character of the South African people”, according to a statement released by the ANC.
This comes after the ANC received backlash for no longer representing the country’s demographics. Some of this backlash came when all seven members elected into the NEC in December were black. Many have called on the party to co-opt people from minority races so that it can reflect the country’s rainbow nation.
As a result, the NEC, which may choose to co-opt up to five people, elected to appoint four members. The four members include Peer, SA National AIDS Council deputy chairperson Steve Mapaseka Letsike, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s parliamentary counsellor, Gerhard Koornhof, and Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Alvin Botes.
Peer said she was pleased to hear the news of being co-opted to the NEC and looks forward to the tasks that lie ahead for her.
“I’m really excited to be placed into the NEC and to be given this amazing opportunity. I’d love to contribute to the organisation and to the people who need us most. That’s the most important thing to me right now. I really don’t know what my tasks will be yet. They normally deploy you and they tell you where you are going to work. I got a letter from the Secretary General of the ANC saying they will call me soon,” said Peer.
She said her appointment will give her the opportunity to help fight real issues facing the country. Peer said there was much to do within the ANC.
Municipality
“I’m an activist first and I really care about the people around me. Even though I have been at home for a while and was consulting in skills development for companies, people have never stopped calling me. They would still call me to say, ‘please help us, we can’t do a particular thing, or we’re not getting through to the municipality’, which is a shame. And I always did my best to help them when called upon,” said Peer.
She said the appointment will help her to understand people’s perceptions and she is invested in helping President Cyril Ramaphosa to rebuild the organisation.
“When he was first elected, he had so much personal popularity and that really boosted the country. There was a wave of optimism because of the President. One has to work towards getting him back to that reformation. We need to put that back on track for him and build the organisation based on our liberation values,” said Peer.
She said she believes the best way to restore faith in the ANC, and to get people to support the ANC again is to focus on optimum service delivery.
“This is something that is currently terribly lacking, and everything that goes wrong is placed on the President’s lap. That is totally out of line because Ministers are more concerned with their own interest groups and less in the performance of our government. If each one handles their own units or departments properly, I’m sure there shouldn’t be any problems. There’s failure in that and that’s something that needs to be looked at seriously,” said Peer.
Beyond everything, she says the ANC is there to assist communities first.
“When the community is at your beck and call, when there’s no electricity, and things are getting rotten and women are struggling in their households, it means a lot when you’re able to help. That’s what I want to do. I want to serve communities. It’s not that I am going to use a magic wand to solve everything, but I would like to address some of these issues if I am given the chance,” said Peer.
She says service delivery is of utmost importance to her, whether it is in the municipalities, or whether at national level.
“In this role, if I’m put into caring for municipalities, that’s what I will focus my energy on. This is something which I was very good at previously. And if I’m put in charge of the province of KZN, then I will take it with two hands. I will be glad to take on any of the roles where I can serve communities best. We need to work on optimising our service delivery here,” said Peer.
Peer served as the Deputy Mayor of the eThekwini Municipality during a tumultuous time.
She stepped in as acting mayor after former mayor Zandile Gumede was forced to take special leave following her arrest on corruption charges.
