Amongst the collective hysteria which has come to characterize our election seasons, as parties of one sort or another attempt to coerce and persuade the registered public to tick a ballot, some honest reflection is needed. A few important questions needs to be asked, is this culture of accountability some of our politicians constantly refer to really realizable through party politics? Are elections the be and end all of elections? To what extent does the voting public actually have a say in how the country is governed. Is the ruling party really God's representative on earth which will govern until Jesus returns and is our official opposition really struggling to being about 'open opportunity society' which delivers for all?.
The first response that springs to mind, is that our party list representative system dis-empowers the voter for the profit of the party. Parties not the individual are awarded the seat and the individual candidate is determined by the party, meaning in order to ensure they keep their job candidates have to ensure they maintain a good-standing with their party, not the electorate. As we have seen across the country, people are dissatisfied with the state of service delivery and political representation across the country, from Durban to Grahamstown protests against a seemingly unaccountable, incompetent and uncaring state have characterised the build up to these elections. Protests have even extended to members of parties protesting against the elections lists handed to them before elections, in some cases politicians excluded from this years electoral lists have resorted to hiring hitmen to fix their problem. While the official opposition pursues policies deeply hostile to the poor majority of the country, from the evictions of people in Mandela Park, to the existence of a camp straight out of District 9 known as “Blikkiesdorp. A small exception exists in local elections where independents and civic candidates can run for office, in order to directly represent their communities
Most South Africans are familiar with the stories of corruption, incompetence and repression emerging from the ruling party, but so far the same coverage has not been extended to the similar contempt for the poor which exists with the Democratic Alliance. Hout Bay characterises the extreme inequality which blights both our country and Cape Town in particular. The leafy affluent neighbourhoods of the well-off and the plush mansions of the richer stand in direct contrast to the terrible poverty of the Mandela Park settlement which stands next the gated white communities of the area. Journey further down the beach past the harbour and you reach the poor coloured neighbourhood of Hangberg, within both of these communities the DA has failed to their promise of the open opportunity society.
Students for Social Justice a Grahamstown based student movement are screening the documentry “The Uprising of Hangberg” about the struggles of the people of Hangberg and brutal response of the police. As the DA promises to deliver the Cape Town solution to the rest of South Africa, it is time to blow away the fog surrounding the mountains of Cape Town, to expose the real human cost of this solution and why the DA does not present a real alternative to the ANC. Amongst our own disillusionment with the party system we have chosen to endorse a independent candidate Christopher Mc Michael standing for councillor in Ward 12 Grahamstown (Rhodes University) who presents a truly radical experiment in direct democracy. Independents are given some space to work with during local elections, but the obvious bias in the media and perpetuated by parties threatens to silence much of their message. Media coverage is often focused on the personality politics offered to us in the form of such figures of Malema, Zille and Zuma, while ignoring the real struggles of the poor against a unjust, unequal and increasingly repressive system.
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.
- I will also only accept a living wage as councillor and will put half my monthly salary back into the communities in our proximity, with an eye to benefiting, in the most appropriate and relevant manner, those who are unable to meet their basic needs with dignity. This injection of funds into the communities will be done in such a manner as to avoid self-congratulatory smugness, understanding that the poor are in most instances poor for systemic reasons beyond their control.
- 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
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