KZN political parties enter final candidate selection ahead of LGE - SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader.
With more than 900 wards up for grabs in KwaZulu-Natal, political parties are intensifying preparations for the upcomingmunicipal electionsas they compete to secure support across the province. Parties are. . .
With more than 900 wards up for grabs in KwaZulu-Natal, political parties are intensifying preparations for the upcomingmunicipal electionsas they compete to secure support across the province. Parties are focusing on their internal candidate nomination and selection processes, with some introducing stricter criteria that include educational qualifications, community involvement and increased oversight. The selection of ward councillor candidates is regarded as a key stage in the election process, as successful candidates will serve as the primary link between residents and municipalities, while representing their respective political parties. Some political parties in KwaZulu-Natal have already concluded their candidate selection processes, while others are nearing completion. The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it has adopted a merit-based selection process, requiring aspiring candidates to undergo interviews and competency assessments. The party has also placed emphasis on accountability. DA KwaZulu-Natal leader Sithembiso Ngema says, “People understand that there’s accountability, the meaning they understand that they’re supervisions, they’re somebody who is keeping an eye on them is the minute you will get the best result, its the minute everyone out there will say if i don’t do my job. Well then the party will kick me out. We are the only party that fires… we don’t keep a councillor that is not working. ”IEC outreach programme targets rural areasThe African National Congress (ANC) says it has strengthened its candidate selection process by introducing stricter educational requirements and measures to prevent manipulation. The party previously faced internal disputes over candidate selection, which contributed to violent clashes and political killings. ANC KwaZulu-Natal coordinator James Nxumalo says, “What it has done is that. . this time around there are electoral officers in each and every branch and each and every ward, the electoral officer and those people have people are impartial who are not biassed towards any candidate, and these are the people who are running the processes at the branch general meeting, and before it was it used to be run by the leaders of the ANC but this time around the ANC said, we need people impartial, we are not going to be participating or not have an interest in the process. ”The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) says it is allowing branches to nominate respected community members who are not party members, in an effort to attract credible local leaders. EFF provincial leader Mazwi Blose says, “We are saying that if our branches within their own membership, able to say to us as leadership, so say no, we have identified a particular person who is necessarily not an EFF member, but that is a community activist we are saying we are given that responsibility to that branch so that go and then speak to that person and say, hey, we’ve seen your work and we are saying that as the EFF please come and be a candidates of the EFF. ”Political analyst and Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Nelson Mandela University, Bheki Mngomezulu, says voters are increasingly prioritising candidates with integrity and strong community standing over party loyalty. Mngomezulu says, “The issue of political parties that have done well in the past is long gone, what people need this time around are people with integrity, people who will represent the party well and therefore do well in this election, failure to do that will be tantamount to committing political suicide. ”The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC)has opened the candidate nomination process. Political partieshave been encouraged to complete their internal candidate selection by the end of July to ensure they are ready to submit their candidate lists once the election date is officially proclaimed.