|
Tulbagh Info Information
eNews 493 VIP response
Article in the Tulbagh eNews No. 493 of 8 June, 2011 by Anthony Silberberg and the response by John Veschini of the fledgling VIP - Voice of Independents Party
The article;
Electoral Reform Needed
Congratulations to the Voice of Independents Party on doing far better than many expected by getting just under 7% of the votes in ward 11 Tulbagh and just under 2% of the votes cast in the Municipality as a whole.
John Veschini, founder of the VIP, often represents himself as speaking for the majority of Tulbagh residents yet viewed in perspective the election results show that over 93% of the voters in Tulbagh do not support his views.
A ridiculous and biased formula is used for calculating proportional votes that penalizes parties that have been successful in the Direct Ward elections. This resulted in the DA that achieved over 45% of the PR vote for Witzenberg Municipality, only being awarded 3 out of the 11 proportional council seats while a minor party such as the VIP that achieved less than 2% of the vote was awarded one PR seat. Using normally accepted calculation methods each council seat should be equivalent to 1915 votes or 9% of the PR votes cast. The DA with 10024 votes should have been awarded 5 or 6 proportional council seats which would have given it an outright majority while the VIP with only 385 votes should not have been granted a seat (he got his figures wrong as usual - with his calculations there would be more Councillors than there are seats on the Council?.... Lol?)
The present formula that results in small parties being awarded a disproportionately high number of seats has resulted in the instability that has characterised the Witzenberg municipality for the past 10 years and impedes service delivery (a joke perhaps?) No Silberberg, the joke is on you? What impeded Service Delivery was simply new found power and arrogance? I have witnessed 10 years of doing nothing except getting paid big time for doing nothing? Two of those 10 years were under DA Governance and the rest ANC. In the meantime, you and all the rest of the Ratepayers have been led by the nose? Now you are paying for nothing, or less than what you were paying for before? Your property has been devalued and while you are 'chirping' the community is being blead dry?
It results in neither major party being able to achieve sufficient council seats to govern in their own right and creates the need to form alliances with independents and small parties to achieve a majority...
These small parties tend to change their allegiances during the term of office resulting in a yo yo effect with different parties in control from time to time or worse still paralysis. No Silberberg, the Party 'hopping' had nothing to with the Proportional vote! It was just power and remuneration for doing nothing?
Clearly the formula needs to be reviewed and reformed on a rational basis to be representative of the votes cast and achieve a degree of stability that will allow effective service delivery. Show us the way Silberberg? Give us one of your 'business plans' to resolve this issue?
In the meantime the VIP Proportional Representative Councillor, Maina Joubert needs to be aware that she does not speak for the people of Tulbagh but only represents the 146 votes she received out of the 2150 valid votes in Tulbagh's ward 11 and the less than 2% of Witzenberg voters that supported the VIP. Neither do you Silberberg? Please start your own Party before 2014?
Anthony Silberberg (of Tulbagh)
The response by John Veschini of the VIP - Voice of Independents Party
Election results May 18, 2011 response - eNews 493
There is no way to respond to this without you, Mr. Editor, allowing the `space' on the Tulbagh eNews to be made available for it all to be `digested' in the sort-of `bigger picture' and be put into perspective, since I note that I have not been afforded the opportunity to do so in respect of previous tirades against Maina Joubert and myself by your correspondent? So I posted it to the Tulbagh Information website.
Firstly, politics and the basics of how people change their allegiances - at the drop of a hat, how political parties garner votes, how certain occurrences, or utterances, the lowering of acceptance levels for the caliber of candidates in `some' instances, as being acceptable etc., can change people's values and have major political ramifications in the results of the elections, are new to me - that I admit to. Let us say that I am a `beginner' in major politics but learning every trick in the book?
I, as an individual and having made the decision that `direct, dedicated, knowledgeable and reliable' representation on Council, may be far better than the opposite - those individuals who have done nothing tangible for the community ever and those forever `chirping' on the sidelines?
I am of course disappointed that we, the VIP, as a Party of 75 days old from date of acceptance by the IEC, with limited time and funding, for marketing and the task in general, did well enough to get at least one seat on Council? That seat is quite important I would think? Being on Council at least affords me to see everything that passes before my eyes, as opposed to seeing the effects and then looking for the causes, which has been the case in the all of the 13 odd years I have been a resident of Tulbagh and a Ratepayer in the Witzenberg Municipality and a person who was always been one to seek fairness and justice, equitable services and good efficient governance, in so far as it affects our community? I challenge anyone to compare my efforts to those of the likes of the Silberberg's and the new `kids on the block' and what I aim to achieve - either as a lone voice or as part of a `collective' to achieve these aims - for the benefit of this community ultimately (who have effectively `kicked me in the teeth') despite my efforts for them over the years, for National Politics as opposed to Local Government politics. People apparently forget very quickly who does what for them when it comes to our racist orientated politics in South Africa and more especially at a local level?
I sincerely thank those `few' (7%) who did support our Party and myself as an individual in Tulbagh for my efforts over the years in this town and our Party in the broader Witzenberg Wards which we had the time to contest but I accept that there is no such thing as loyalties in politics and we know it is a money orientated `dirty game'? But hell, we can still be friends (well some of us?). It really does not mean that in future I shall spend the approx. R15,000 that I spend locally per month, in another town, as most other locals do? I shall support local business and my community in preference to others always, as I have always done.
Accept also that (after being misled by the IEC) we could not compete for the additional votes that the District Council (third ballot paper) would have afforded us. So many people then voted for who would be `next best in their minds' on that ballot paper and their choice was basically a racist `collective Laager mentality vote?
How much (in terms of money) did the DA candidates actually contribute towards their election? I would guess next to nothing? - the Party has it all? How much money does the DA and other Parties make out of politics? Do your numbers …… at 10% of the salary of every Councillor, every Provincial MPC or Parliamentarian every month, how could any new Party really compete if there was no PR system in place? It is like having one's website being on the first or second page of a Search Engine? How do you get those who are there off the first or second page for those who are not, when everyone is opening their links because they are the first who are visible?
Let's face it, I do get a bit confused at Silberberg's allegiances, from the record of his contributions to the eNews and having watched him `saunter' between the ANC and the DA Gazebos on election day (probably saying the same to both) but I have determined that one of his pet hates are me and in his words - John's proxy' - Maina Joubert - my life partner and perhaps that he is racially biased? Or, was it because I have opposed his stubborn (costly - to the ratepayer) attitudes over the years (such as his opposition to the alienation or sale) of the Kliprivier `loss-leading' Klip Rivier Caravan Park? If the ANC had won this Ward, he would have been giving accolades to them, doing the same numbers, whilst still attempting to denigrate the VIP, Maina Joubert and I? Has this man not proved over the years that he is perhaps spiteful, racist and malicious to the extreme?
There have also been major outside influences in the outcome of these elections. Two major factors come to mind. One was the Julius Malema utterances which drove the 'White' vote into the arms of the `opportunist' DA and those of Jimmy Manyi, whose utterances of re-distributing the so called `Coloured's' all over South Africa, as they were too concentrated in the Western Cape, had the same benefits towards the results of the DA locally and more especially in the Western Cape? These two utterance sealed the fate of smaller parties and the ANC in the Western Cape - despite the fact that they were not speaking on official policy of the ruling Party? Most voters from minority groupings in South Africa treated this as a National election instead of a Local election and the results (as far as I was concerned were a foregone conclusion after those `utterances'). DA against the ANC and the rest did not count? The DA picked it up first (good marketing?) and hence the posters of `Helen Zille and friends' and the ANC (always apparently pretty slow on the uptake) responded with the Zuma posters?
Well, I have news for some who believe that they are now winners! The ANC still has about 63% of the vote (almost three times as much as the DA and from my perspective), the DA will not govern SA in your lifetime, nor mine but opposition to the ANC is good, as is opposition to the DA, or generally also? And lastly (and some of my detractors will probably choke on this information, as some others with Laager mentalities may?). I, not Maina Joubert, will be the Proportional Councillor of the Witzenberg Council as decided upon by our Party and my eyes are those of a `Hawk' when it comes to Local Governance - or the lack thereof and all the `shenanigans going on which some don't see but I do and I know where I stand in life. The interests of my community will come first.
But something bothers me. Why is it that Silberberg appears to always have something malicious to say about me? And, what is his problem about Maina Joubert? Is it her skin hue? Would he have preferred that there were none like her in Tulbagh? If she moved into Church Street' tomorrow, would he feel that his status a privileged `White', may be negatively infringed upon?
No way will I ever respond to this nonsense ever again. It is like giving credibility to people like the the President's of the 'Youth League'?
Now for some analysis of firstly the Proportional Representation system, read the following and accept that it is based on the belief that it was designed to encourage democracy?
PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION VOTING SYSTEMS
Proportional representation voting (PR) is the main rival to plurality-majority voting. Among advanced western democracies it has become the predominant voting system. For instance, in Western Europe, 21 of 28 countries use proportional representation, including Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland (a democratic model?).
The basic approach of proportional representation is simple: legislators are elected in multimember districts instead of single-member districts, and the number of seats that a party wins in an election is proportional to the amount of its support among voters. So if you have a 10-member district and the Republicans win 50% of the vote, they receive five of the ten seats. If the Democrats win 30% of the vote, they get three seats; and if a third party gets 20% of the vote, they win two seats. Electoral system designers have devised several ways to achieve these proportional results, and so there are three basic kinds of PR described below: party list, mixed-member, and single-transferable vote (also called choice voting).
These PR systems were devised to solve the many problems caused by plurality-majority voting systems. As a rule, PR voting systems provide more accurate representation of parties, better representation for political and racial minorities, fewer wasted votes, higher levels of voter turnout, better representation of women, greater likelihood of majority rule, and little opportunity for gerrymandering.
Now secondly, let us try to analyze the results of the first really democratic elections in South Africa?
Do Political Parties necessarily start at the bottom or at the top?
Acronym
|
Name
|
ACDP
|
African Christian Democratic Party
|
ADM
|
African Democratic Movement
|
AMCP
|
African Moderates Congress Party
|
AMP
|
placeAfrica Muslim Party
|
ANC
|
African National Congress
|
DP
|
Democratic Party (before it became the Democratic Alliance)
|
DPSA
|
Dikwankwetla Party of country-regionplaceSouth Africa
|
FF-VF
|
Freedom Front
|
FP
|
Federal Party
|
GRP
|
Green Party
|
IFP
|
Inkatha Freedom Party
|
IP
|
Islamic Party
|
KISS
|
Keep It Straight and Simple Party
|
LUSO
|
Luso-South African Party
|
MF
|
Minority Front
|
MP
|
Merit Party
|
NP
|
National Party
|
PAC
|
Pan Africanist Congress of Azania
|
RP
|
Right Party
|
SAWP
|
South African Women's Party
|
SOCCER
|
Sport Organisation for Collective Contributions and Equal Rights
|
UPF
|
United People's Front
|
WI
|
Workers International to Rebuild the Fourth International (SA)
|
WKFP
|
Wes-Kaap Federaliste Party
|
WLP
|
Workers' List Party
|
WRPP
|
Women's Rights Peace Party
|
XPP
|
Ximoko Progressive Party
|
Election Information and Statistics
The following political parties contested the 1994 election:
The nationwide election totals were as follows:
Vote
|
National
Assembly
|
Provincial
Legislatures
|
Votes
|
%
|
Seats
|
Votes
|
%
|
Seats
|
Total
Spoilt
Valid
|
19,726,610
193,112
19,533,498
|
0.98
99.02
|
400
|
19,633,571
147,841
19,485,730
|
0.75
99.25
|
425
|
ACDP
ADM
AMCP
AMP
ANC
DP
DPSA
FF-VF
FP
GRP
IFP
IP
KISS
LUSO
MF
MP
NP
PAC
RP
SAWP
SOCCER
UPF
WI
WKFP
WLP
WRPP
XPP
|
88,104
9,886
27,690
34,466
12,237,655
338,426
19,451
424,555
17,663
2,058,294
5,916
3,293
13,433
3,983,690
243,478
10,575
4,169
6,434
6,320
|
0.45
0.05
0.14
0.18
62.65
1.73
0.10
2.17
0.09
10.54
0.03
0.02
0.07
20.39
1.25
0.05
0.02
0.03
0.03
|
2
252
7
9
43
82
5
|
117,825
34,233
51,773
12,137,307
538,655
21,877
639,643
16,279
2,611
2,047,083
16,762
5,423
48,951
2,028
3,492,467
271,793
921
2,641
10,123
5,481
6,337
7,279
8,238
|
0.60
0.18
0.27
62.29
2.76
0.11
3.28
0.08
0.01
10.51
0.09
0.03
0.25
0.01
17.92
1.39
0.00
0.01
0.05
0.03
0.03
0.04
0.04
|
3
266
12
14
44
1
82
3
|
Note the percentage poll in favor of the then DP party in relation to the `scheme of things'? Are my numbers correct in that the results percentagewise for National Assembly was 1.73% and that for Provincial Legislators was 2.76%?
Consider the results of the last Local Government elections in this Municipality. I would say that we as the newest party, did pretty well and I would also note that with 47% of the vote, the DA can hardly claim to be representing all the voters of this Municipality as none can but collectively, a bigger picture immerges?
Now let us assess the status following the Local Government Elections? Yes the new DA alliance grew somewhat but did the ANC really `shrink' much in percentage, considering that they now still have at least 63% of the vote Nationally in this election?
Have I missed something other than the fickleness and lack of loyalty of the average Tulbagh or even Witzenberg voter? Don't political Parties have to start somewhere? If they start too fast, they can get into a `speed wobble' and then almost disintegrate. If they get too arrogant, they may well not see the wood for the trees over time?
There are perhaps none so blind as those who cannot see?
John Veschini
VIP Voice of Independents Party
|
|