Marion Edmunds
POLITICAL parties have launched a massive manhunt for=20 50 000 politicians. Their talent scouts are trawling=20 townships, suburbs and villages this month to find=20 ideal candidates for the local government elections.=20 All the major political parties have started screening=20 potential candidates and all want the best of local=20 talent for themselves.
The exact number of candidates will only be known once=20 the process of demarcating wards is completed. However,=20 the African National Congress is working on the=20 assumption it will need more than 14 000 people to=20 field as candidates in every ward across the country.
Both the National Party and the Inkatha Freedom Party=20 said this week they also intend putting up candidates=20 countrywide — and that they were confident they would=20 find the candidates to do so.
The Freedom Front, Democratic Party and Pan Africanist=20 Congress all said they wanted “thousands” of=20 candidates, when approached this week.
Totting up the figures is difficult at the moment, but=20 if the ANC’s figure of 14 000 is accurate, then,=20 altogether, parties will be seeking more than=20 50 000 candidates to contest local government elections=20 in November.
The pool of talent is considerably reduced by a rule=20 that civil servants cannot stand for these elections.=20 This means, for example, that teachers and nurses –=20 often highly respected community members — will not be=20 able to present themselves as candidates. However,=20 Election Task Group spokesman Vic Milne said that=20 Cabinet was reconsidering this rule, because of a lack=20 of candidates, especially in the less-populated areas.
ANC national co-ordinator for local government=20 elections, Roshene Singh, says candidates for ward=20 councillors should be popular in their community,=20 honest, and they should have technical skills as well=20 as political experience. The ANC differs from other=20 parties by insisting that a large proportion of=20 candidates be women. Only the ANC has restricted its=20 search for candidates to within its own ranks or those=20 of its alliance partners, the Congress of South African=20 Trade Unions, the South African National Civics=20 Organisation and the South African Communist Party. All=20 other parties are throwing the net wide open.=20
Inkatha’s criteria for prospective candidates are=20 similar to the ANC’s, although Tillet said it is=20 important that candidates be dedicated to the=20 community, not just set on representing party=20
The National Party says it wants “good managers” who=20 are committed to the community.
The Freedom Front’s local government spokesman, Pieter=20 Groenewald, says his party is looking for influential,=20 “quality” candidates who will participate actively in=20 community elections.
The DP’s Douglas Gibson says his party hopes to blend=20 political experience with new faces which “represent=20 the rainbow nation”. Gibson promises the DP will “pop=20 up in all sorts of surprising places” over the next=20
The PAC’s general secretary, Maxwell Nemadzivhanani,=20 says that popularity in the community will be the key=20 criterion for the PAC, not party membership.
All parties claim that raising thousands of candidates=20 will be easy. They say the struggle will lie in=20 selecting the best, without losing the votes and=20 support of those who are not chosen.
Given that political allegiances are not as hard and=20 fast now as before last year’s national elections, the=20 politically ambitious might be able to shop for the=20 best party, especially in strategically important=20 areas. A lot could depend on how much support political=20 parties can give to candidates on a local level,=20 especially in financial terms.