THE Democratic Alliance (DA) has announced its five mayoral candidates for the upcoming municipal elections, expected to be held on October 27 2021.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said the party is announcing the candidates now to ensure voters have time to get to know them.
“Very few other parties have done this, the ANC certainly does not seem to have any desire to let you know who their mayoral candidates are. And this is a shame because South Africans deserve far better from this hard one democracy where they get to play an active role all the way up to election day,” said Steenhuisen.
“It’s still not too late for this to happen. I’d like to challenge the ANC to do what we’ve done, for the sake of our democracy. Make this election the open contest it was always meant to be. Put your candidates out there in front of the people, alongside ours.”
These candidates will contest for the positions during the local government elections, whose date is yet to be confirmed.
The Constitutional Court is hearing arguments in favour and against postponing the elections from October to February next year.
“We, in the DA, feel that this is an important part of the democratic process,” said Steenhuisen.
“We have a duty to let voters know, well ahead of the elections, who will be tasked with running their cities and towns should we win in those municipalities, or secure the majority share of a coalition government,” he said.
“Democracy isn’t just about casting your vote on election day. It’s a process and it should start well before the ballot box.”
There are 97 political parties contesting the local government elections.
The announcement was made in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, on Monday.
Mayor of the City of Ekurhuleni is Refiloe Nt’sekhe.
In the City of Tswhane our candidate for Mayor is Randall Williams.
In the City of Johannesburg, our candidate is Mpho Phalatse.
In Nelson Mandela Bay, our mayoral candidate is Nqaba Banga.
- Inside Politics
