The DA's winning team: DA candidates for local elections exemplify experience, excellence and diversity.
The Democratic Alliance is pleased to introduce today a selection of our Cape Town proportional list candidates for the upcoming local elections. These men and women come from a diverse range of backgrounds, but they all share a common commitment to hard work, excellence and public service. We are working together to achieve the open, opportunity society for all.
These candidates have just come through the DA's candidate selection process - undoubtedly the most rigorous and demanding selection process of any political party in South Africa.
The DA takes an "open, opportunity" approach to selecting our candidates. This started with a clear job description for local government councillors, followed by a public advertisement around the country, so that anyone committed to our vision and who shares our values could apply to be a candidate. Aspirant candidates were then interviewed individually by an electoral college comprising delegates elected by our branch structures. Next, the aspirant candidates were interviewed more thoroughly by a selection panel, a smaller body of former public representatives and pre-eminent members of the community, and finally candidates were ranked, with limited possibility of adjustment in the hands of party structures to finalise the list we present today.
These candidates have made it without quotas and without manipulation of the process by party elites. Of course, with over 5000 applicants country wide, there are many people who did not make it, and many of them will feel saddened and hurt by the outcome of the selection process. However, as we continue to grow and win more and more support across the country, we hope to have more councillors in more municipalities than ever before.
Our candidate nomination regulations stipulate that DA public representatives must take responsibility for understanding, internalising and living the party's values, principles and policies. They must demonstrate integrity, accountability and the capacity to perform the duties required of a councillor to a high standard.
Today, at the culmination of our selection process, our proportional list for Cape Town includes many of our most experienced and dedicated incumbents, as well as fresh faces that are running for public office for the first time, a few of whom are here with us today.
In our top 15 for the City, we are joined today by Mayor Dan Plato, Deputy Mayor Ian Neilson, several other experienced and proven Mayco members, as well as Lungiswa Gazi, Raelene Arendse and Siphumle Yalezo who are standing for office for the first time and have emerged with distinction through our ranks. Siphumle Yalezo will likely also be the youngest member of our caucus at only 23 years of age.
Let me introduce some of them, who were able to be here at short notice today. (See attached brief bios of candidates)
These are just some of our Cape Town candidates for the upcoming election. All are in strong, electable positions and will add huge value to our caucus.
The candidates on our list know that we have a shared mission. We must build on what the DA has delivered in Cape Town over the past five years and continue to offer voters a government they can trust and be proud of. We believe in the open, opportunity society for all. We have proven in Cape Town that we can deliver on that vision to all the people.
Vote DA. We deliver for all.
Profiles of Top 15:
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PR List Position |
Name |
Brief Bio |
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1 |
Patricia de Lille |
Patricia has an extensive history of public service. During the struggle she was active in the union movement and was elected to the first democratic parliament in 1994. There, as a PAC member, she was the first chairperson of the Transport Portfolio Committee. Patricia is the DA's candidate for Mayor of Cape Town in the 2011 Local Government Elections. |
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2 |
Grant Pascoe |
Grant has 10 years experience as a Cape Town City Councillor. He is currently the Mayco member for Social Development and Special Projects, as well as the Chairperson of the DA's Cape Metro Region. Under his leadership, the City has spearheaded innovative social development initiatives, including the construction of Early Childhood Development Centres that nurture children in poor communities across Cape Town. |
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3 |
Belinda Walker |
Belinda has served the council for many years and served as Deputy Mayor during our brief stint in office during 2001. Alderman Walker is also the Mayco member for Corporate Services. |
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4 |
Dan Plato |
Mayor Dan Plato has served with distinction as Mayor of Cape Town for the last 2 years. He served as a ward councilor, and Mayco Member for Housing before that. |
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5 |
Shehaam Sims |
Shehaam has served in council for five years and currently serves as the Mayco member for housing. She also has an extensive background in community development, and worked as a senior council official for many years. |
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6 |
Ian Neilson |
Ian Nielson has served the City of Cape Town for many years as a councillor. He is an Alderman and currently serves as Deputy Mayor. Ian is also the Mayco member for finance, and in a range of portfolios prior to this. |
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7 |
Lungiswa Gazi-James |
Lungiswa Gazi-James. Lungiswa has dedicated much of her time to community development projects, with a particular focus on job creation. She has set up food gardens in Khayelitsha and sewing groups to assist unemployed women. She is the Chairperson of the DA's N2 constituency, and is a long serving party activist and community leader. |
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8 |
Beverly Cortje-Alcock |
Beverly is an experienced community and party activist, having had a decades-long involvement in various community initiatives across the city. She was first elected to the City of Cape Town as a councillor on the PR list in 2006. |
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9 |
Xolile Gwangxu |
A former member of the ANC Youth League in the Eastern Cape, in the 1990s, Xolile switched to the then Democratic Party (DP) to work as an organiser and coordinator. Xolile has an extensive history of community involvement and activism both in the Western and Eastern Cape and has been a PR councillor for the City of Cape Town since 2009. |
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10 |
JP Smith |
JP Smith has served the City of Cape Town as a councillor since the year 2000 and is the Mayco member for the Safety and Security portfolio. Under his leadership, the metro police and emergency services have been rebuilt, and now deliver an excellent and reliable service. |
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11 |
Raelene Arendse |
This is the first time Raelene has stood for council, after being active in the DA for the last decade. She is a social worker by profession, with a Masters in Social Work, and is currently a lecturer in social work. |
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12 |
Anthea Serritslev |
Anthea Serritslev is currently the Chief Whip in Council, and has presided over the successful implementation of the DA's rigorous performance development and management system for our councilors. |
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13 |
Rose Rau |
A qualified statistician, Rose has worked in both the business world and was self-employed for a number of years. Her tremendous organisational and political skills were utilised by the DA where she has been employed as the National Training manager for the party. She has served both the DA and its precursor parties for a number of years and was first elected to the Cape Town council in 2006 on the PR list. |
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14 |
Siphumle Yalezo |
A civil engineer, Siphumle has been very involved in the DA Youth and community youth initiatives. He established the highly successful Ikamva Youth Organisation in Khayelitsha which teaches maths and science skills to young people. |
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15 |
Dirk Smit |
Dirk Smit has a long history in politics, and was first elected as a councilor in Cape Town under the banner of the VF+. After working with the DA team, he came to see and believe deeply in the vision of the Open Opportunity Society for All. He has served for 5 years as the Speaker of the City. |
Statement issued by DA leader Helen Zille, March 24 2011
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