Poll results indicate possible ‘interesting results’ in upcoming local elections
HOUGHTON – The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) hosted a webinar on Tuesday evening (October 12) aimed at helping residents navigate their way through the upcoming local elections.
A poll administered to nearly 100 attendees to the Navigate The Local Government Elections webinar hosted by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) on Tuesday evening (October 12) indicated there could be some interesting results in the upcoming local elections.
The poll question: Will you be voting for the same party you voted for in the previous elections?
As high a percentage of 42% of voters indicated that they would not.
Journalist Stephen Grootes, webinar host, commented that usually people were longstanding in their loyalty to their chosen party, and that these poll results were interesting – given that almost half of the voters in the poll expressed an interest to vote for a different party.
Wendy Kahn, national director of the SAJBD, said she expected the weeks building up to the local elections and those following it would be riveting. She explained that the webinar was a culmination of meetings organised by SAJBD, focused on the local elections. Last week, the SAJBD held what was called, The Great Debate, where many issues had come to the fore, such as corruption, service delivery, unemployment.
Tuesday night’s webinar aimed at equipping residents to understand the issues, challenges and implications of the upcoming elections. Special webinar guests included Dr Ralph Mathekga, political analyst, acclaimed author and News24 columnist; Nompumelelo Runji, thought leader, author, and founder and CEO of Critical ThinkAR; and Wayne Sussman, Daily Maverick election analyst.
Other interesting statistics raised at the webinar concerned the number of rising ‘independents’ in the local election arena.
To highlight the rise in independent candidates, Sussman gave Rustenburg as an example, saying in the previous local elections, there were five independents. “There are now as many as 32 in Rustenburg,” he said.
Mathekga commented on the complexity of local governance and the importance of the upcoming elections. “Local governance isn’t just about service delivery. If we only think it’s about this, we will end up with a local government with no other reason to exist. Local government has the innate potential to further democracy in South Africa.”
Details: www.sajbd.org
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https://www.citizen.co.za/rosebank-killarney-gazette/155998/the-big-debate/
