WeeklySA_AdminUNDER FIRE: Mom speaks of her heartbreak after Papa Penny allegedly turned his back on her ailing son
By Sy Makaringe
A DISTRAUGHT Limpopo mother whose son sustained a serious injury while working on an Eastern Cape citrus farm is livid after uMkhonto weSizwe Party Member of Parliament, Gezani Eric “Papa Penny” Kobane, allegedly failed to honour his promise to go and comfort her and discuss “the way forward” with her family.
Christinah Manghani, 64, and her 24-year-old son, Basopa Perseverance Mtileni, are now considering taking legal steps against the musician-turned-parliamentarian and the CEO of the Farm Endulini Fruit, Pietie Ferreira.
Mtileni was one of about 150 men from three Nkuri villages in Greater Giyani, Limpopo, who in April went to start work on the citrus farm, about 1 500km away from their homes, after being recruited by Kobane on condition they signed up for membership of the MK Party.
Kobane was seen by MKP President Jacob Zuma as his trump card to eat into the overwhelming support base of its bitter rival and dominant party, the African National Congress, in Limpopo.
In the May 2024 general elections, the MKP only received 1% electoral support (or 14 364 votes) compared with the ANC’s 74% (1 061 696 votes) in Limpopo. In the Greater Giyani Municipality, Papa Penny’s own backyard, his party got only 2,43% of the vote.
By offering villagers employment opportunities, Kobane was capitalising on the ANC government’s major weakness – failure to create sustainable jobs, especially for the youth.
But Kobane’s aggressive recruitment drive went pear-shaped after his recruits from the three Nkuri villages – Zamani, Sofasonke and Tomu – were met by appalling living and working conditions, bad food and poor pay when they arrived at the farm.
Kobane’s problems worsened when Mtileni fell off a ladder while picking oranges, severely injuring his belly button, only a few days into his job.
After three failed attempts to assist him at Sundays Valley Provincial Aided Hospital in Nqweba, 120km from Endulini, the ailing Mtileni decided to return home to be closer to his family. He was joined on the trip back home by 47 others, who were disgruntled by the shabby treatment they endured at the hands of their farm bosses. The rest of the recruits followed a week later.
A day after his return home, Mtileni complained of severe pains and was rushed to Nkhensani Hospital in Giyani. But, due to the seriousness of his injury, he was immediately transferred to the Letaba District Hospital, where he underwent an operation to remove his belly button.
Mhanghani said she was deeply disappointed by Kobane’s insensitive attitude towards her son’s health by failing to honour his promise and give his take on the incident and how he and Ferreira planned to assist her son going forward.
“You know, when Penny Penny came along and offered our children an opportunity to work, everyone was happy that someone at last was doing something about the unemployment crisis in our village in particular.
“But, after what happened to my son and Penny Penny’s nonchalant attitude, we can now all see that he was doing it for political expediency and selfish political interests,” fumed Mhangani.
She said Kobane had promised to visit her home on Saturday May 24 when he was due to attend a funeral of the mother of one of his members.
“He didn’t show up, even at the funeral. He didn’t even bother to call me or my son to explain why he didn’t come or to comfort us. How insensitive can one be?” Mhangani asked.
After being contacted by Weekly SA Mirror, Kobane denied he had made such a promise to Manghani, saying he was in Cape Town on the day in question. He said he only told her he would go and visit her the next time he went back home.
Asked to comment on Mtileni’s injury, the parliamentarian said the matter was between him and his employers.
“All I did was to provide him with a job. Is there anything wrong with that? I can’t be involved in what happens between an employee and his boss. It was not my fault that he got injured at work,” Kobane said.
Weekly SA Mirror sent a list of questions via email to Ferreira but failed to respond. He dropped the call when we tried to contact him on his cellphone. On our second attempt he let it ring unanswered.
