NELSPRUIT – The chairman of the DA in Mpumalanga will not be serving in the provincial legislature after the forthcoming elections. Mr James Masango, currently one of two DA representatives in the Mpumalanga legislature, will be heading for Parliament in Cape Town instead.
This was made official today when the DA released their party lists for the national and provincial elections. Masango’s name tops the list of Mpumalanga’s candidates possibly heading to Parliament.
The leader of the DA in the province will remain Mr Anthony Benadie, who was named the party’s candidate for premier in Mpumalanga.
National DA leader, Ms Helen Zille, said, “We believe it is important that every voter knows who their Premier would be if the DA was elected to govern in their province.”
She said the candidates underwent gruelling, multi-layered assessments and selection processes over the past six months. “Our selection process was rigorous and fair. Our Electoral Colleges and Selection Panels from across the country had a difficult task deciding among a pool of candidates of exceptionally high quality.”
Zille, who will remain the Western Cape Premier candidate, said 1 432 aspirant candidates originally applied. “We are of course delighted at the exceptional group of people that now forms our candidate team for the 2014 election. They are the DA’s team that will change South Africa in the coming years. They are talented, energetic and committed.”
The candidates from Mpumalanga are in order Masango, Ms Tarnia Baker, Ms Sonja Boshoff (former Thaba Chweu councillor recently appointed to NCOP), Mr Henro Kruger, Mr Farhat Essack (Thaba Chweu councillor), Mr Werner le Grange (Mbombela councillor), Ms Gerda Amoraal, Mr Sifiso Ngomane, Mr Gezani Mkhombo, Mr Joseph Sibanyoni, Mr Fanus Roos, Mr Daniel Maseko, Mr Danisa Maphanga, Mr Steven Schormann (Mbombela councillor) and Mr Nelson Tivane.
Since South Africa uses a party-list proportional representation system, the lists a party puts forth determines which individuals can be elected as members of national and provincial legislatures.
This is allocated according to a proportional system, whereby the number of votes a party gets during an election, determines the number of seats it gets. Winning two seats means the top two candidates on the list takes them.
Voters will be required to make two selections in this coming election, one for a party on a provincial level, and another on a national level. The percentage of votes garnered from a province that contributes to a party’s overall percentage on a national lever, detemines how many of those on the national list will get seats in Parliament.
For the Mpumalanga Legislature, the candidates are in order Benadie, Ms Jane Sithole, Mr Bosman Grobler, Amoraal, Ngomane, Mkhombo, Mr Ken Robertson (Mbombela councillor), Roos, Maseko, Mr Joseph Sibanyoni, Schormann and Mr Bheki Khumalo.
“Our lists for this election represent the most diverse, young and dynamic team that the DA has ever presented to the country. Most of our new candidates have emerged through the ranks of our party,” she said. “Some have joined us from other parties, and others applied via our public advertisements. All our candidates are committed to the DA’s values and share our vision of an open opportunity society for all,” Zille said.
Referring to the “confidential candidates on many lists but not in Mpumalanga, Zille explained that more people will join her party from others before the elections.
“There are also (DA) candidates whose identities we cannot yet reveal because they are presently still in a different political party or organisation. They are in the process of informing their leadership and resigning from their positions.”
The ANC is expected to meet on Monday to finalise its lists.
