Bulawayo24 News
By Lulu Brenda Harris
30 June 2013
INCUMBENT Bulawayo East legislator MDC-T’s Thabitha Khumalo is set to lock horns with MDC’s David Coltart for the House of Assembly seat in the forthcoming elections as the MDCs’ battle to control Bulawayo intensifies.
The two candidates, both identified as drawcards and strong candidates for their respective political parties, will battle it out come voting day.
Coltart, an MDC Senator and lawyer by profession, was first elected to represent the Bulawayo South House of Assembly constituency in June 2000 and was re-elected in March 2005.
In March 2008 he was elected as a senator to represent the Khumalo Senatorial constituency in Bulawayo.
Senator Coltart was sworn in as Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture in February 2009 where he resuscitated the ailing education sector.
Ms Khumalo is one of the outspoken female politicians and in 2011 stoked controversy when she called for the legalisation of prostitution.
In 2012, she also drew the ire of her party when she boldly challenged deputy Prime Minister, Ms Thokozani Khupe for the MDC-T’s vice-presidency during its congress.
This led to her demotion and her ouster came at a time when the MDC-T was battling to mend its tattered image in Bulawayo amid huge defections by its supporters to Professor Welshman Ncube’s MDC.
In an interview with Sunday News, Ms Khumalo admitted the Bulawayo East race would be fiery.
“The heat is there. But I am an action person. I will give it my best shot definitely,” she said.
Sen Coltart also confessed the polls would be “tough” as he would be standing against an active MP.
“She has been active in her activities with Jomic. I look forward to a good debate but I will certainly do my best. There’s a lot of work to do. The MDC-T won by 1 000 votes in the last elections. I hope to rope in that 1 000 deficit,” he said.
Ms Khumalo said it was sad that although the country has done well to achieve a 50/50 gender ratio it was not the same at political party level.
“On that woman front, I can garner more support but it is a farce because there are few women taking up political seats or making political decisions. I would have preferred a situation where MDC would have fielded a woman candidate in the constituency but then again we will see. I will give him what I am made of,” she said.
Coltart said although he was aware of the power behind a female vote, he too had worked fairly hard for women’s issues.
“Women are likely to be sympathetic towards another female candidate, I hope women in my constituency know I too have worked hard for women’s issues,” he said.