Councillor candidates for Bay known by end of month

THE DA in Nelson Mandela Bay hopes to announce its councillor candidates for the upcoming elections by the end of the month, it said yesterday.

The party had initially targeted the end of January for finalisation of its candidates list, but extended its deadline to last month.

In an interview yesterday, DA federal chairman and Bay mayoral candidate Athol Trollip said the Eastern Cape and three other provinces had already submitted their candidates’ names to the DA federal council electoral committee to scrutinise.

The committee would then submit the names to party leader Mmusi Maimane and his federal executive for rubber-stamping.

“We extended the January deadline to finalise the list because the registration weekend was also extended.

“But everything was finalised by the end of last month. We are convinced the announcement [of candidates] will be before the end of March,” Trollip said.

Candidates who applied had gone through the party’s electoral processes, he said.

However, there has been unhappiness within the party’s ranks, with some current councillors saying the DA’s head-hunting of candidates was a vote of no confidence in them.

This was dismissed by the DA’s Eastern Cape leader, who said the head-hunting of candidates did not mean they would get the final nod.

Everyone went through the same rigorous process, Trollip said.

“The DA is an open society, with everyone welcome. People have the same opportunities,” he said. “Head-hunted people go through the same electoral processes as everyone else. The head-hunted people both internally and externally have the expertise to help us govern well in Nelson Mandela Bay.”