14 Parties contest election in George

GEORGE NEWS - Fourteen political parties - three less than the 17 that stood in the 2011 local government election - and three independent candidates will be standing in the fifth democratic Local Government Election 2016 on Wednesday 3 August.

Wards 8 (Parkdene), 16 (New Dawn Park) and 23 (Delville Park, Herolds Bay and Groenweide Park) will be the most tightly contested with 13 candidates while Ward 15 (Zone 9 Thembalethu) will have the least number of candidates on the ballot paper, namely seven.

The parties contesting for control of the George City Council in alphabetical order are:

African Christian Democratic Party
African Independent Congress
African National Congress
Christian Democrats
Christian United Movement SA
Democratic Alliance
Economic Freedom Fighters
George Independent Ratepayers Forum
Independent Civic Organisation of SA
Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners
South African Civics
South African Religious Civic Organisation
Ubuntu Party
Vryheidsfront Plus

The intensity of the Local Municipal Election 2016 moved up a few notches on Tuesday 28 June when the IEC released the final list of candidates that will be running for office. Three of the national parties represented in parliament; Cope, the UDM and the IFP, will not be standing in George.

The smoke and mirrors period in which political parties and individuals speculated as to who the candidates would be and what position they would be on the proportional list is history as only those on the final IEC list will be able to contest the election.

The ANC announced on Tuesday that sitting councillor and former George Deputy Mayor Piet van der Hoven will be the ANC's mayoral candidate. Current Mayor Charles Standers, who is under extreme pressure from within his party, the DA, is in position two on the PR list and will, if all remains as is, be back on council. Former ANC Mayor and municipal official Kidron Kaboni will stand in Ward 23 for the EFF; he is number three on the EFF list.

Perennial former George Councillor Wilbur Harris who has previously represented both the ID and Cope, hopes to return to council via Icosa. Harris is standing in Ward 5 (Le Vallia and George East) and is second on the Icosa list. Former George Mayor Bazil Petrus who has been a councillor since 1995 with the GGV (George Gemeenskap Vereeniging), DA, ID and the ANC, has started his own party, South African Civics, and is number one on the list.

He will also contest Ward 8. Former DA Councillor and member of the mayoral committee Henry Jones, who is on trial for allegedly selling RDP municipal houses, will be standing as an Independent in Ward 16 (New Dawn Park).

The odds are good that the DA will win the election, but the real question is who will be in power.

This will be answered either on 4 August if one party wins an outright majority, or 10 days later when the horse-trading political coalition negotiations eventually culminate in a ruling alliance of either the ANC or DA and one, two or three smaller parties.