Maimane warns independents that they will be removed if they fail their communities

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Chief activist of One South Africa Movement, Mmusi Maimane has warned independents that they will be removed from their positions if they fail their communities over the next five years. About 200 independents gathered in Midrand, Johannesburg to sign a pledge on the principles and conduct they shall abide by should they win in their wards on 1 November.

The pledge calls for them to practice good governance, transparency, professionalism, service delivery, and community participation.
Representatives from 12 civic forums across various municipalities have pledged to serve their communities with integrity, transparency, and good governance.

The representatives, who will run as independent candidates in the local government elections, have been organised under the banner of the One South Africa Movement led by Mmusi Maimane.

Frans Sekoba is President of the Moretele Independent Civic Association from JS Moroka Municipality in Mpumalanga which is currently under the administration of the province.

“If we are run by one political party, it is chaos because they do as they wish, hence, we decided to form an independent organisation. We want something that is new, something that will represent the interests of our communities. As we can speak there are political parties that we know, quite a number of names but they are not doing as expected.”

Candidates commit to deliver 

The independent candidates have signed The People’s Pledge. Selma Kock is the Mayoral candidate for Ngwathe RA, a group of independents from the Ngwathe Municipality in the northern Free State.

“There are good people in all political parties in the municipalities but their hands are tied, they are always waiting for leadership to come through and say what must be done and what can be done. As independents we report to the people, we don’t report to the political hierarchy. We have a direct line so we can start immediately.”

However, OneSA has sent out a stern warning to those who will not be pulling their weight should they gain public office after the elections. One SA has been assisting the candidates with training in public management as well as for their campaigns.

“Today we sign a pledge that says the people shall lead and the people shall govern. It is the people who nominated you and believe you me from One SouthAfrica’s point of view, you fail those people, we will be the first ones to work with the people to remove you. We are not going to wait for five years, we don’t need a disciplinary hearing, and you will go,” says Maimane.

Asked on whether independents will enter into coalition governments, Maimane had this to say.

“We’ve got a pledge, are you going to advance the pledge? The reason why we want to do that is that when we decide, let the pledge decide, we are not going to advance anyone to capture the state, let the pledge decide.”

A total of 1725 independents will contest these elections up from under 1000 in 2016.

Candidates urged to focus on delivering services to their communities:

 

a year ago