Mr Sello Tleane (ANC)

What is your political background?

My political socialization started around 1977 working at the OK stores when I was a shop steward of the Commercial, Catering Allied Workers Union of South Africa (CCAWUSA) before it became SACCAWU today. That was just after 1976 where ours was to approach the struggle from a workers point of view. In the early ‘80s there had been that call from then ANC President Oliver Tambo that we should establish organs of peoples power and we became involved in that process. Simultaneously some of us were recruited to work in the underground of the ANC where we met comrades that had been trained militarily outside of the country. So our politics and mobilization extend from the shop floor towards communities beyond Tembisa, East Rand, Johannesburg where I reside. We formed street committees, peoples courts and youth congresses. After the unbanning some of us were trained to play a role in local government through international exchanges from Germany, Britain and the North Americas. Later on when we returned we were involved in Local Government Negotiating Forums (LGNFs) which were statutory, meaning those in government and those that were non-statutory. I was a co-chairperson of a LGNF with the other co-chairperson being from the National Party (NP). Our LGNF region was Kyalami including Midrand, Kempton Park, Modderfontein and Edenvale where the new structures of local governance came into being in 1995. At the time when I was chairperson of the executive committee it was called Kyalami Metropolitan Council (KMC) and there were no mayors then. Even before all that work I was then elected the President of Tembisa residence association towards 1990 as there was no South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) then in the east rand.

I continued working in the civic movement where at one point I was the provincial secretary of SANCO in Gauteng, working with communities until I was deployed to Parliament in 2014 by the ANC.

What does your job as an MP entail?

On Mondays all parliamentarians do constituency work where you work for your political party servicing the communities in your constituency area. On Tuesday morning we are all here making the laws of the country but also do oversight over the Executive. The SA political system subscribes to the tripartite separation of State authority into the Executive, Legislative and the Judiciary authorities. In terms of that principle those arms of government have to work independently from one another and the work of lawmakers is to play that oversight on the executive as a parliamentary collective as well as oversight on the work done by government institutions across South Africa, including Departments. We also check whether there is impact by the projects rolled out by government institutions in the Economic portfolio.

On a Wednesday or Friday we sometimes have what is called a study group meeting as ANC Members of parliament (MPs) where we strategise for the next meeting and all other business of the Economics portfolio committee. I also sit in the Management Committee (MANCO) of my committee which carries forward recommendations from the study group into the portfolio committee in terms of the committees programme. From Tuesday to Thursday afternoon we have plenary sittings whereas Thursday mornings are reserved for party caucuses to plan how they will approach the business of parliament going forward.

What is your impression of the fifth Parliament?

Prior to the 2014 election there had been no Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) where I think the environment was different as there surely were not as many disruptions as there are now. It is therefore a challenge to engage on matters that would impact positively on the lives of our people whilst at the same time dealing with disruptive elements in the chamber but, then again that is part of democracy. At committee level the disruption is quite manageable. 1. What constituency area have you been assigned to you by your party? I was previously assigned to Winterveld but I have been since been moved to Tembisa

What is most interesting about your constituency work so far?

Many people could to the parliamentary constituency office (PCO) for assistance on where to go to access funding for businesses. Some of our people are not aware what resources there are in government, whereby the PCOs then facilitate that knowledge sharing and communication on what there is for the benefit of South Africans.

What are you most passionate about - this applies both in a political/professional arena as well as personally?

What would your message to South Africa be?

It is important for South Africans to recall who we are and where we come from prior 1994 as black south Africans in particular and since the ANC took over government it has built over 3 million houses and man schools. It is currently in the process of building universities where the aim is to transform the lives of South Africans for the better. We have come up with the concept of the Broad based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) with the aim of encouraging the formerly disadvantaged people of South Africa to play a meaningful role in the main stream economy of SA.
We are in the process of developing black industrialists and not just shareholders here and there but actual change of economic power from one group to another so that by 2019 South Africans can differentiate between yesteryear's oppressor and who was part of bringing about liberation.