Election Manifesto
As an independent candidate for Ward 12, I cannot promise you the world. What I can promise is that I will be a councillor who is answerable to you, the Ward 12 voter. The idea is simple but radical: politics should not be about top-down plans where leaders decide what your problems are for you, get your vote and then proceed to do whatever they want to. Democracy must be about the people it claims to represent. Politics is not some magic code spoken only by some elite squad of professionals: it belongs to you. This is about people talking together and working things out.
What I will do:
- If elected I will do everything in my power to ensure transparency,including putting the minutes of municipal meetings on Twitter and Facebook.
- Ensure that I represent the ward and its people. I will be available and open to the public, not hidden in a fortified municipal office.
- Do everything in my capacity to use this position as a platform for direct democracy. To this end, I will facilitate the holding of monthly free and open public meetings where we can meet face to face and discuss problems and figure out ways to resolve them. As far as legally permissible, I will also put all voting issues on Facebook and Twitter for the wards residents and will also publically justify each vote I take.
- Sign a recall policy to ensure that I can immediately be removed if I fail to meet the criteria set by you the voter. A figurehead’s leadership is only legitimate so long as they are supported by their electorate.
- Only accept a living wage as councillor and will put half my monthly salary back into the community.
- Actively create a space for the political representation of Rhodes students, and foster strong and enduring relationships between Rhodes and the broader Grahamstown community.
What I will not do:
- Make vacuous and impossible promises about service delivery, change, a better life for all or working together rather than for you, for the sake of votes.
- Use this ward as a ladder to become a professional politician.
- Be answerable to any party line, taking orders handed down from distant offices in Cape Town or Johannesburg.
As an independent candidate for Ward 12, I cannot promise you the world. What I can promise is that I will be a councillor who is answerable to you, the Ward 12 voter. The idea is simple but radical: politics should not be about top-down plans where leaders decide what your problems are for you, get your vote and then proceed to do whatever they want to. Democracy must be about the people it claims to represent. Politics is not some magic code spoken only by some elite squad of professionals: it belongs to you. This is about people talking together and working things out.
What I will do:
- If elected I will do everything in my power to ensure transparency,including putting the minutes of municipal meetings on Twitter and Facebook.
- Ensure that I represent the ward and its people. I will be available and open to the public, not hidden in a fortified municipal office.
- Do everything in my capacity to use this position as a platform for direct democracy. To this end, I will facilitate the holding of monthly free and open public meetings where we can meet face to face and discuss problems and figure out ways to resolve them. As far as legally permissible, I will also put all voting issues on Facebook and Twitter for the wards residents and will also publically justify each vote I take.
- Sign a recall policy to ensure that I can immediately be removed if I fail to meet the criteria set by you the voter. A figurehead’s leadership is only legitimate so long as they are supported by their electorate.
- Only accept a living wage as councillor and will put half my monthly salary back into the community.
- Actively create a space for the political representation of Rhodes students, and foster strong and enduring relationships between Rhodes and the broader Grahamstown community.
What I will not do:
- Make vacuous and impossible promises about service delivery, change, a better life for all or working together rather than for you, for the sake of votes.
- Use this ward as a ladder to become a professional politician.
- Be answerable to any party line, taking orders handed down from distant offices in Cape Town or Johannesburg.
