We have just watched on eNCA the DA announcing Dr Mamphela Ramphele is the party’s Presidential candidate for 2014 elections. This is a critical move for the party to win black majority votes. Some context and my opinions on the matter.
I have always been vocal about my support for Mmusi Maimane’s candidature for Gauteng premier. Not only do I feel as a young professional, I need to have a premier who I can relate with in terms of age and possibly challenges faced by us as youth. Therefore, it has always been unquestionable about how I will make my provincial Gauteng mark.
However, one thing bothered me in my mind: I could not see myself voting for a white person on the national level. Maybe I am racist . But the reality is, I have always convinced myself, black South Africans have in the past suffered under white colonial rule. My need to vote for Helen Zille on the national level could not go away such that one day I tweeted her asking her if under her watch, if she wins the national elections that is, how would she ensure apartheid doesn’t return. A fear felt by many black South Africans even on this day, 20 years after the dawn of democracy. She replied and simply said: “We will uphold the rule of law,” however, my fear still remained.
Then I even considered voting for the EFF on the national level but I had equal doubts about it as I did with Helen Zille. Yes silly, Malema isn’t white! However, the man is allegedly scandalous as we have seen with his alleged tax evasion and corruption charges, among other silly everyday charges. The reason I want an alternative is because I want a leader that commands respect, is ethical, has a reputable stature and isn’t facing corruption allegations. That is my policy and that is how I vote. So while I was still pondering on my possible EFF vote, then boom, a sudden “game changer” as Helen Zille terms it.
“I am very pleased to accept the DA’s invitation to be a Presidential candidate for the party,” said Dr Maphele Ramphele after Helen Zille announced Ramphele has accepted the party’s invitation.
Many feel Ramphela has betrayed her myriad of volunteers who supported her and believed in her and Agang’s policies. As for me, I remember tweeting about two weeks ago saying she must go back to the DA where her political ambition was ignited.
Ramphela was asked at the briefing by a journalist who read her autobiography about her statement in the book that she cannot see her son voting for the DA and she can therefore not join the DA. How will she now explain this and expect her son to vote for her? She quickly went onto a “TogetherForChange” rhetoric about the hashtag for the announcement and possibly the party’s 2014 electioneering slogan. She said something along the lines of many sons and how her son grew up with Helen Zille’s son bluh bluh bluh bluh.
Now, a black woman may possibly be this country’s very first President. But before that, the DA needs to start galvanizing support of the majority which is the blacks. Indeed, Zille stepping down from presidential candidature is a strategic decision to woo black voters like me who had issues with voting white people into highest office of the land. What does this say about millions of people like me about tolerance of other races and deploying them into the administration of this country? Have we really gotten over the past?
If I can have these feelings about voting for a white person, how about white people who voted for the DA because it is seen as a white party? But Helen quickly dismisses such statements stating: “Look at us on this table, this is diversity at its best,” she said as she was flanked by Ramphela, Maimane, Patricia de Lille and Lindiwe Mazibuko. But is that enough to convince white voters having a black woman as a Presidential candidate is good for the party?
Me thinks there are those whites who vote for the party because they don’t wanna vote Freedom Front Plus (FF+) and DA is allegedly white so it makes sense to vote for it since it is progressive and inclusive. Are we gonna see a situation whereby DA’s stronghold province of the Western Cape voting Helen as their premier but choose the FF+ on the national level? Think of my intention to vote the DA in Gauteng and still battling my conscience for my national mark.
I have a series of feelings questioning myself if I am racist for finding it hard to vote for Helen Zille on the national level. But I did vote for the DA in 2011 elections and the candidate was white. Perhaps that was because I knew the DA would not win those local elections in my ward. I just wanted them to have a strong voice. However, 2014 elections are a redefining moment for SA as the born-free electorate is essential not only because their vote says to us how they see the future of SA but because they are those who grew up without obvious apartheid, so to be politically correct. Am I racist or am I being a typical black voter who thinks like an African in Zimbabwe?
Your thoughts? What do you make of Ramphela’s candidature? Will you now vote for the DA because now we have a black presidential candidate or you see her as a black puppet used as window-dressing to win black majority votes? Have you decided who you are voting for? Let’s engage in a meaningful debate…