Tokenism by the DA?

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sox63

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I was going to post this on the forum earlier, but thought to myself that I will be dismissed as having a "chip on my shoulder". But when I read the letter sent to News24, I thought then I must not be the only one thinking of it.

The DA had to put forward a canidate, and I'm guessing they knew they did not have a chance of actually winning it, so they decided to score some political points with the black voting base.

Personally, it did nothing of the sort. IF the DA had wanted Seremane to be a President they would have elected him as leader of their party. They went with Zille, which was not a bad choice at all. And the DA then picked Sandra Botha as their "leader" in parliament. Should she not have stood against Motlhanthe? The ANC put forward their highest ranking official in parliament, so why did the DA not do the same?

I have to agree with the writer of the letter and say it was tokenism from the DA to have Seremane stand and not Botha. And if they feel that they have to do that, then it shows that they are not taking the voters seriously.

http://www.news24.com/News24/MyNews24/Letters/0,,2-2127-2129_2400084,00.html
 
Yesterday the DA was accused of being a white party and today everyone's bitching about them selecting a black candidate.

*sigh*
 
EtienneK said:
Yesterday the DA was accused of being a white party and today everyone's bitching about them selecting a black candidate.

*sigh*
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I think you're missing the point, Sir.;)

define:tokenism
 
No I understand what tokenism is. But I was just making the point that no matter what they do, people will always see them as a white party.
 
And by the way:

Tokenism refers to a policy or practice of limited inclusion of members of a minority group, usually creating a false appearance of inclusive practices, intentional or not.
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Black people are not the minority, nor are the DA creating a false appearance. They have lots of black members.
 
Sigh Sox, and here i had the utmost respect for your political views :rolleyes:

Helen could not stand For president as she is not an MP. If so she would have been the party's nomination. That said, I would love to see what any other MP/Leader of any party has done to justify them being there. The only person that took a personal step was Helen. She turned Capetown around in her short stay there.

I wish the rest would learn from her, be it black, pink, green...... damn it. We're a country that is suppose to be working together and make the place safe for everyone living in it. Clean for everyone loving here, education for everyone living here.

Helen has got houses done, she cleared up Capetown. Guess when they start cleaning up Gauteng ? Guess when they start to replace lost power cables ? guess when they start to build houses in Gauteng ?

Yes, you guessed it, a few months before election. The ANC and all the stupid arse tokens they have is useless..... If you an educated person living in SA can't see it, there is no hope for this country ;)

Catch a wake up and smell the coffee mate. It's about time the people of SA start voting with their heads and not their hearts.

I have hope for this country, I have been through alot this year and it has changed who I am and how I see the world as a whole.

I'm a White South African, and if the ANC is doing the best for the people I would vote for them. I can not stand and let this country be run to ****. Thus there is only one Party that really wants change and what is good for ALL people of South Africa.

Think about it
 
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I agree with sox to some extent. Zille couldn't run because as Mayor of CT she isn't an MP but it does sound a bit contradictory to put up the name of the person who isn't even the leader of your party in parliament. Ok, lets just say what if Seremane had won? What then? I know it wasn't likely at all but hypothetically speaking it stinks of tokenism.

I see nothing wrong with the racial makeup of the DA and it's leadership but they'll never win a national election in SA until they start to understand that SA voters vote for people they can relate to. People who have similar backgrounds to them. It's a sign of an immature electorate but it's the reality of SA due to it's past and it's history. Maybe putting Seremane up was an acknowledgment of this fact or maybe not. The DA will always be an opposition party but never an alternative party except in the CT (where it only just won the last election with help from smaller parties).
 
If they had picked Botha then that author of the letter would have instead spent his time writing about how the DA is a whites only party and doesn't cater to the needs of black people.

In the end the DA have this stigma and its not going away anytime soon no matter what they do. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Its all irrelevant anyway.
 
HypoThesis said:
I agree with sox to some extent. Zille couldn't run because as Mayor of CT she isn't an MP but it does sound a bit contradictory to put up the name of the person who isn't even the leader of your party in parliament. Ok, lets just say what if Seremane had won? What then? I know it wasn't likely at all but hypothetically speaking it stinks of tokenism.

I see nothing wrong with the racial makeup of the DA and it's leadership but they'll never win a national election in SA until they start to understand that SA voters vote for people they can relate to. People who have similar backgrounds to them. It's a sign of an immature electorate but it's the reality of SA due to it's past and it's history. Maybe putting Seremane up was an acknowledgment of this fact or maybe not. The DA will always be an opposition party but never an alternative party except in the CT (where it only just won the last election with help from smaller parties).
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I disagree

This is just pure stipudity

They vote because the ANC promisses them the world, and they don't get ****. To be fk'd over so many times by the same people and still believe it ?

LMAO !

What can we say, looks like 2/3's of our country loves to get butt fk'd and are as stupid as a bunch of stones in a tin can :rolleyes:
 
sox63 said:
, then it shows that they are not taking the voters seriously.
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It has been proven over and over that the voters cannot be taken seriously, because, even though the ANC has raped this country for years, the majority of voters will once again vote for them.
 
sox63 said:
I was going to post this on the forum earlier, but thought to myself that I will be dismissed as having a "chip on my shoulder". But when I read the letter sent to News24, I thought then I must not be the only one thinking of it.
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No, you're well known to be a well balanced chap: you have a chip on each shoulder.
 
Pitbull said:
I disagree

This is just pure stipudity

They vote because the ANC promisses them the world, and they don't get ****. To be fk'd over so many times by the same people and still believe it ?

LMAO !

What can we say, looks like 2/3's of our country loves to get butt fk'd and are as stupid as a bunch of stones in a tin can :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
If I had known you were gonna post that, I wouldn't have bothered.

Spot on.
 
the reason they she nominated that guy was to test the waters of the ANC split. Because it would cause a secret ballot and they would know how many votes they placed... and they could see how many ANC people would vote against the main group.

my 2c
 
sox63 said:
I was going to post this on the forum earlier, but thought to myself that I will be dismissed as having a "chip on my shoulder". But when I read the letter sent to News24, I thought then I must not be the only one thinking of it.

The DA had to put forward a canidate, and I'm guessing they knew they did not have a chance of actually winning it, so they decided to score some political points with the black voting base.

Personally, it did nothing of the sort. IF the DA had wanted Seremane to be a President they would have elected him as leader of their party. They went with Zille, which was not a bad choice at all. And the DA then picked Sandra Botha as their "leader" in parliament. Should she not have stood against Motlhanthe? The ANC put forward their highest ranking official in parliament, so why did the DA not do the same?

I have to agree with the writer of the letter and say it was tokenism from the DA to have Seremane stand and not Botha. And if they feel that they have to do that, then it shows that they are not taking the voters seriously.

http://www.news24.com/News24/MyNews24/Letters/0,,2-2127-2129_2400084,00.html
Click to expand...

The DA does want Seremane to be party leader. The DA's rank and file, however, prefer white people. The DA is sometimes a little too democratic internally.

There is your answer - no tokenism conspiracy here.

[How do I know this? From talking to various DA MPs whenever the opportunity has presented itself.]
 
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Pitbull said:
I disagree

This is just pure stipudity

They vote because the ANC promisses them the world, and they don't get ****. To be fk'd over so many times by the same people and still believe it ?

LMAO !

What can we say, looks like 2/3's of our country loves to get butt fk'd and are as stupid as a bunch of stones in a tin can :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Thats just the reality of politics. America did it with George Bush, he screwed them over big time but they still voted for him.

Politics is about speaking to the common man and their insecurities. Apartheid has made the majority of South African's insecure about having white leadership again...sad fact but it's true. Same story in Zimboland with Bob talking about colonialism. George Dubya used Terrorism. MANY examples through history.

We educated middle class types can moan and groan all we want but 1 man/ 1 vote is what wins you elections.
 
Mr Mulder calls the Seremane move "opportunistic" :D

Themba Godi, of the PAC splinter party -- the ACP -- took the latter strategy furthest, calling for a “government of all the talents”, while it was Pieter Mulder of the Freedom Front Plus who delivered the sharpest dig at his much bigger competitors for the white vote. “We thought it opportunistic of the DA to nominate Seremane when from within the ranks of the DA he could get only 6% of the vote at a leadership election,” Mulder said.
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http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-09-26-the-wheel-of-fortune-turns
 
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