ANC's Mayoral Candidate: How competition is good for democracy
ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe today announced that the ANC will not announce its mayoral candidates with the single exception of Cape Town, where it confirmed its mayoral candidate. Cape Town is the single metropolitan municipality where the ANC is not in power. The ANC has been forced to confirm a candidate in Cape Town or risk being unable to campaign.
There is a single and important lesson to be learnt from the ANC's announcement today: where the ANC is in power its actions are defined by secrecy and contempt for the voters; but, where the ANC is trying to get into power, its actions are more open and it is forced to show more respect for the voters. This is proof that competition fuels the best democratic practice.
Elsewhere, the ANC is under the illusion that its control will last forever and thus, there is no need for it to be open with South Africans or to present to them those people that may be responsible for leading the government of their towns and cities. It is deeply mistaken. In Johannesburg, Tshwane and Port Elizabeth the Democratic Alliance (DA) is competing to win and there is a chance that the ANC will be brought below 50% in each of these metros. The ANC's own attitude towards the best democratic practice will now cost it more votes in each of these areas.
The DA has announced its mayoral candidates in each major metropole it is contesting:
Johannesburg: Mmusi Maimane
Cape Town: Patricia de Lille
Tshwane: Brandon Topham
eThekwini: Ronnie Veeran
Port Elizabeth: Leon de Villiers
Ekhurleni: Shelly Loe
Each candidate has or will present a vision for their municipality containing the steps and programme's the DA would implement if elected to office. This is because we believe the voters come first and we believe that we are accountable to them. The voters have a right to know who they are electing and what programme of action the political party plans to implement in the municipalities where they live. None of which is possible if an election is shrouded in secrecy.
Statement issued by Lindiwe Mazibuko MP, DA National Spokesperson, April 12 2011
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