Choosing the right candidate
I have simple concerns with regards to tomorrow's election. The same concerns as every SA woman, I suspect. Who are my ward candidates? Who are the mayoral candidates and why should I vote for them? And in particular, who are our female candidates?
As the posters all around me don't really give me that much information, and I don't have a car to drive to the various town halls... I turned to the Internet. Mistake.
Many of us don't like rah-rah campaigning. Many of us would like to research party promises and candidates alone, via the Internet, and not in a room of toadying and ululating. What I want to know is... in 2006, how is it that this is not possible?
Ever visited any of our most prominent parties' websites? (See our list below.) I went in search of information regarding the 2006 elections and the only party website that provided comprehensive election information was that of the DA. In fact they even have bios for some of their mayoral candidates. One would think this is de riguer, but it seems not.
The ANC have, on the whole, been rather snoop with info on their mayoral candidates, choosing instead to push pics of a smiling Thabo, while sending him on a campaign trail through the most rural parts of South Africa. Their election page on their website is useful, they do list their candidates and provide their manifesto but it's still all about Thabo – why are there no bios on their candidates? This is a municipal election isn't it?
The ID's website has been updated and you can read their full 2006 manifesto, but their article on why you should vote still contains the line "IN 1994 YOU WERE GIVEN A VOICE, IN 2004 IT IS TIME TO USE IT!" Sigh. When I phoned they were very helpful, offering to give me the numbers of their candidates to interview... but that's probably just because I said I was press.
The IFP website – they really haven't bothered with election info, and I can't say anything about the UDM website – a real shocker. Seriously. Don't go there, dude.
This electoral article was not paid for by the parties concerned. Francine still has no idea who to vote for tomorrow.
Posted by: www.SouthAfrica-CarHire.com
