The Official Defectors-To-The-DA thread

OrbitalDawn

OrbitalDawn

Ulysses Everett McGill
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Figured we might as well have one. :p

Breytenbach to quit NPA, stand for DA

Glynnis Breytenbach is leaving her job at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to stand for the DA in the general election, the Sunday Times reported.

Breytenbach is one of six candidates whose names were kept confidential when the Democratic Alliance released its consolidated lists of who it wants in Parliament after the elections, according to the newspaper.

DA federal executive chairperson James Selfe said Breytenbach's move would add momentum to the party's campaign.

"Advocate Breytenbach is on the DA's Gauteng list for the National Assembly, in a position which makes her election as a member of Parliament for the DA very likely," he said.

'Valuable addition'

"She will be a valuable addition to the DA's team in Parliament. She is principled and brave, with a passion for the law and a sharp eye for detail. I have no doubt she will be an exceptional legislator."

Breytenbach's lawyer Gerhard Wagenaar confirmed to the newspaper that Breytenbach had given notice to the NPA on Friday that she would leave on 30 April.

It was believed Breytenbach was the confidential candidate listed at number eight on the DA's Gauteng list.
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Fikile Mbalula's private secretary defects to DA

ANC heavyweight Fikile Mbalula has just learnt that his private secretary Ricardo Mackenzie may well become an MP this year - on a DA ticket.

The Democratic Alliance's (DA) candidate list, released on Saturday, contains a number of former ANC members but none of the defectors are likely to attract the ruling party's ire quite like Mackenzie.

Mackenzie does not have a high public profile and never held high office in the ANC but his defection to the DA, revealed on Saturday, is going to make at least one high-ranking ANC official unhappy.

"He has been a committed member of the ANC most of his life but in recent times has come to believe that it is the DA that offers the best hope for the future of South Africa," the official opposition said of Mackenzie, who it considers to be a prospective parliamentarian, depending on the number of seats it wins in elections likely to take place in April.

What it does not mention is the close association that Mackenzie still has with Sports Minister and ANC firebrand Fikile Mbalula. On paper, Mackenzie is still Mbalula's private secretary.

"I think he knows," Mackenzie told the Mail & Guardian on Saturday. "I told the chief director of corporate services [of the department of sport and recreation] on Friday, and they are personal friends."

On making the disclosure, Mackenzie said, he was told the matter would be handled on Monday. He suspects his defection will "not be well received".

Mbalula and his representatives could not be reached for comment on Saturday but the minister is unlikely to be impressed.

Though still listed as the minister's private secretary, Mackenzie said he had been on secondment to the World Anti-Doping Agency for the past seven months, so had some distance from his office.

Mackenzie has also been the office manager in the sport ministry and was previously a director in the presidency under Thabo Mbeki.
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Link to list.
 
I did not know that lists were drawn up on a provincial level. I thought it was all national?

Edit: Nevermind. Wiki helped.
 
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I'm also confused by the PL lists. The western cape one has 58 names, but the province only has 42 seats in total - unless they've expanded it for the next cycle.
 
Garson007 said:
I'm also confused by the PL lists. The western cape one has 58 names, but the province only has 42 seats in total - unless they've expanded it for the next cycle.
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Can people be on both provincial and national lists? If so maybe there are extra on Pl lists because if those people get a national seat they are no longer available? Just guessing here...
 
Garson007 said:
I'm also confused by the PL lists. The western cape one has 58 names, but the province only has 42 seats in total - unless they've expanded it for the next cycle.
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They're unlikely to take all 42 seats in any case maybe there are other positions for those lower down the list or they're reserves
 
Garson007 said:
What happens if you get more seats than what you have in a list?
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Then we party till the sun comes up... :p

Srs, I am sure that would be easily catered for with names from within the party or other provinces maybe?
 
How the lists work is a bit confusing - here is how I understand it. Firstly, this has nothing to do with the provincial legislatures - they are completely separate. There are, in fact, both national and provincial lists for the National Assembly - which is where it gets confusing. Apparently there was a concern that a party could submit an unbalanced list, e.g. a list could have mostly Gauteng members when the party's support is spread over various provinces. To avoid this they developed a complicated system, described in detail here: http://electionresources.org/za/system/#ASSEMBLY

Basically, half of the seats in the National Assembly are allocated to the various provinces proportional to the number of registered voters in each. The seats assigned to e.g. the Western Cape are filled from the various parties' Western Cape lists, proportional to how many votes they got (for the National Assembly) in the province. After filling the "provincial" seats in the National Assembly, the other half of the seats are filled from the parties' national lists, in such a way that the total party composition of the Assembly is proportional to the votes cast in the nation as a whole.

Do we really need such a complicated system? I don't know, but what I'm certain of is that the average voter doesn't have a clue how any of this works.
 
I don't understand how nobody is doing independent democracy education initiatives.
 
Garson007 said:
I'm not talking about independent candidates. I'm talking about the education of our political system via an independent source; e.g. the IEC. Why is nobody actually trying to educate?
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The last thing the present government wants are educated voters.
 
Garson007 said:
I'm not talking about independent candidates. I'm talking about the education of our political system via an independent source; e.g. the IEC. Why is nobody actually trying to educate?
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Oh, sorry. Misunderstood.

I think the IEC are trying to, but it's a pretty mammoth task. I don't think the IEC are large enough or funded enough to take on such a huge task. How is it done in other countries? Through the schooling system?
 
Fikile Mbalula's personal secretary Ricardo MacKenzie has defected to DA

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