uMngeni mayor, Chris Pappas. Picture - The Witness.
Chris Pappas could, and should, be a vision of what a future South Africa could be.
The 32-year-old mayor of uMgeni (which includes Howick) in KwaZulu-Natal has crossed the boundaries of race when it comes to politics and municipal management.
Pappas, a fluent isiZulu speaker, and the Democratic Alliance (DA) were voted in by a majority black electorate in a municipality that has for years been mismanaged by the ANC.
He and his team have turned around its finances and have brought electricity to a further 175 homes in the area.
But now, as DA candidate for provincial premier in the upcoming elections, Pappas is going to have to face the ANC at its worst.
Already the party has tried to wrest to municipality away from the DA by gerrymandering voting districts to incorporate uMgeni into a larger, ANC-run municipality. Undoubtedly, the KZN ANC will play the race card against him and the fact that he is gay will also be used to try to discredit him.
His energy and accomplishments will count for nothing and, sadly, it is almost inevitable that he will never be premier.
In South African politics, it is never the best person who wins. That’s why we’re in the mess we are.
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