DAGADA FOR JOZI MAYOR 2016
Wednesday, 06 January 2016
Hello there,
I thought I should send this communiqué to the Democratic Alliance (DA) Public Representatives (Members of Parliament, Members of Provincial Legislatures, and Councillors) who are currently assigned constituencies in Johannesburg so that I can explain to you why I have accepted nomination to be considered by the DA for the City of Johannesburg 2016 Mayoral Candidacy. Unfortunately, to quote Mark Twain – “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead”; apologies.
It took me several years to realise that the African National Congress (ANC) government has betrayed our people by failing to deliver on their promises regarding the municipality services, economy, education, health, transport, crime and so on. Two decades of governing in a democratic dispensation are relatively sufficient to make reasonable progress regarding the improvement in the areas I have listed above.
The threat to our democracy is really staring us in the face. It is because of this that I decided to actively participate in politics. It is the ANC failures and the dangers they posses to our democracy, country and children that pushed me into politics. As a published author, academic and intellectual, I had always wanted to remain apolitical and neutral in terms of party membership. Once you actively join politics as an intellectual, your readers and listeners start to doubt your objectivity. I find this kind of doubt to be justifiable.
On the other hand, I had always wanted to write, criticise, and praise both the DA and ANC without worrying about being seen as a traitor. My academic career has recently been growing rapidly. My consultancy and entrepreneurial ventures are also starting to make some impressive inroads in the market. I am therefore a reluctant politician who was pushed instead of being pulled into politics. I felt I should sacrifice my wishes for the sake of our democracy and country.
If we, the educated black intellectuals, don’t actively join politics, we may be labelled betrayers in many years to come by historians. We should deliberately swell the ranks of the DA in order to strengthen multiparty democracy. I am advocating for the DA because going forward there will only be two dominant political parties in South Africa, the DA and ANC. The vote to smaller parties will literally be wasted and that is why the DA is our vehicle to deliver democracy and services to our people.
There are two main things you need from a mayoral candidate; firstly - you want someone who will be able to win you the 2016 Local Government Elections in Joburg; and secondly – you need someone who will be able to serve excellently as the mayor. I have got no doubt in mind that I can deliver on the aforementioned points. My six point message will assist the DA to win the 2016 Elections; please see its details on the attached document. The attached manifesto also reflects how my DA administration will govern and improve the lives of our people in the City of Johannesburg.
I am glad to know you will not buy into the theory that says intellectuals like myself are detached from the electorate. In his speech to the 3rd Annual Thabo Mbeki Africa Day Lecture, Prof Barney Pityana asserted:
“We must select those [people] who think [and] have excelled all their life. As we know there is now much distrust and even contempt for thinkers and intellectuals. In this country we were almost egged on to despise the educated elite, and have contempt to the intellectuals. It is charged that they are not touch with reality and they are not to be trusted because they can be too clever. By so doing we have very much institutionalised mediocrity, and made virtue out of dullness, stupidity and madness”.
Pityana went on and demonstrated that Africa’s liberation was led by intellectual giants such as Kwame Nkruna of Ghana, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Patrice Lumumba of Democratic Republic of Congo, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, and all presidents of the ANC (except Jacob Zuma) in its more than 100 years of existence. History shows that worldwide, almost all political and economic revolutions were led by intellectuals and the middle-class.
By the way, I am not just an armchair academic intellectual, I have an extensive experience in the private sector where I project-managed multi-million rands projects – these include the design and implementation of telecommunications infrastructure, and other Information and Communications Technology projects.
Although some of my projects won awards, one of my information systems implementation project failed dismally and millions of rands were lost. I know what to do to win and how to avoid failure. I have also done some work in the non-governmental organisations, and I have served as Principal Consultant in government entities such as the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Legal Aid South Africa, Road Accident Fund, etc.
On the consulting side, our latest projects include financial assets management, conceptualising the deployment of petroleum infrastructure, and investors recruitment in mining, agriculture and tourism sectors.
I am committed to serve as your Joburg Mayoral Candidate and thus I will take leave without pay or resign from my permanent job so that I can give undivided attention to the battle ahead. I have a thick skin and I like a good fight. I look forward to your direct and indirect support as I prepare to appear before the DA Joburg Mayoral Electoral College. Together we will win this year’s Local Government Elections elections and improve service delivery in Joburg.
Yours in the service of humanity,
Rabelani
Professor Rabelani Dagada, PhD
Academic, Consultant, Policy Analyst and Politician
Johannesburg, South Africa
Profiles of Rabelani Dagada are available at www.wbs.ac.za; www.rabelanidagada.com; www.theofficeofrabelanidagada.org; Linkdin, Wikipedia, and Who’sWho SA
