I will not stand for the DA Gauteng Premiership
By Rabelani Dagada
On the 20th and 22th January this year, I published articles in The Sunday Independent and The Star respectively, articulating why I would contest the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Premiership candidature.
The gist of my opinion was that if I got elected as the DA Gauteng Premier, I would drive provincial economic growth through re-industrialisation of the manufacturing sector, revival of agriculture and agri-business, human capital development, and converting Gauteng into an integrated City-Region. However, after careful consideration, I have decided not to stand for the premiership.
As an information technologist and development economist, I thought I would make a better contribution in the national assembly in one of the following portfolio committees: science and technology, communications, and trade & industry.
Secondly, inasmuch as I have ambitions to occupy a political administrative position, I think it would be better to initially equip and hone my policy formulation skills and the national assembly is the right place for this. Thirdly, my colleagues, Jack Bloom and Mmusi Maimane have decided to stand for premiership and I have got no doubt that both of them have the ability to turn Gauteng around.
It is on this premise that I have submitted an application to the DA to be considered as a Member of Parliament after next year general elections. My candidature for being a Member of Parliament will go through the DA selection process and there are no guarantees that I will be selected.
I am fortunate to be one of the 100 people selected to participate in the rigorous DA Potential Candidate Programme wherein we are taught about how to serve as a public representative.
Meanwhile, I will be focusing on my responsibilities of being the DA Midrand (Ward 112) Branch Chairperson and campaign manager.
I have a thriving career as an entrepreneur and academic, and thus the decision to enter politics was not an easy one. As a published author 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 objectivity is always under question. I would prefer to write, criticise, and praise both the DA and ANC without worrying about being seen as a traitor.
The ANC failures have become a real threat to our democracy It is because of this peril that I decided to actively participate in politics. . 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 labeled betrayers in many years to come by historians. We should deliberately swell the ranks of the opposition, particularly the DA, in order to strengthen multiparty democracy. I am agitating for the DA because going forward there will only be two dominant political parties in SA, the DA and ANC.
A vote for smaller parties will literally be wasted and that is why the DA is the vehicle to deliver democracy and services to our people. A friend asked me if my motive for actively participating in politics had something to do with being well paid as a politician. My response was a firm "No" - if I were to become a parliamentarian my financial income will take a substantial dive. I am in politics for the sake of our children who should grow up in a prospering country, a stable democracy, and with equality.
I wish Bloom and Maimane well in their race to be the DA Gauteng Premier Candidate and I believe either of them will attract votes for the DA and become a good premier.
Dagada serves in the DA Gauteng Provincial Executive and the Federal Council. You can follow him on Twitter: @Rabelani_Dagada
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