According to the DA, Mogale City is up for grabs, meaning that there will be no obvious winner in the forthcoming local government elections in the city. So it could go either way. The opposition party is using the previous national elections statistics as a barometer. That’s DA style.
My view is that, although the ANC’s back is against the wall, it will retain Mogale City, but maybe with a smaller margin. The national elections statistics are not a true reflection of the voter behaviour in local government elections.
But I digress. The DA has unveiled its mayoral candidates in the metropolitan areas such as Joburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay municipalities. When is it going to unveil its mayoral candidate in Mogale City?
The system that the official opposition uses to select its mayoral and council candidates is open to abuse. It’s undemocratic (though the party claims to be democratic) and secretive. However, the party is likely to defend its system. It’s all in the game.
There are murmurs that certain blacks in the DA in Mogale City are unhappy that they were not selected to stand as councillors in the forthcoming elections. They claim that they don’t know the criteria that were used to select candidates. As a result, some are planning to resign and join other parties.
Mmusi Maimane’s party is obsessed with putting up big names as mayoral candidates. It matters not whether the individual is politically savvy or not. The name that the individual carries seems to matter more. In the process, the party overlooks its loyal and competent members who can make excellent candidates. This will have an adverse effect in future.
In Ekurhuleni, the DA has picked an unknown person to be its mayoral candidate. But he carries a well-known surname. The candidate is Ghaleb Cachalia (what has he done to deserve the nod?), the son of Amina and Yusuf Cachalia, who were struggle heroes. The party hopes that the Cachalia surname will attract more votes for them.
The official opposition has nominated a political novice, Herman “black like you” Mashaba, as its mayoral candidate in Joburg. Mashaba is a self-made business-man but a poor politician. He makes stupid comments that are likely to discourage black voters from voting for his party. What a liability!
The pertinent question is: Who will be selected as mayoral candidate in Mogale City? It’ll be a good idea for the official opposition in Mogale City to nominate a mayoral candidate from within its ranks, to avoid a power struggle. I hope it will be a competent black person who will appeal to the masses. But I’m not holding my breath.
