Conundrum for order in the House

Given the chaotic scenes in the House at the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, the past few weeks, it is clear there is no authority that demands the order.

For the DA they would not only need a suitable Speaker-candidate but there is also the vacant Chief Whip-position. A vacancy contributing to all the drama in the House. Even though there is an Acting Chief Whip, with all the powers and priveleges, it is still acting.

It might appear as if the DA is sitting with a conundrum in filling the vacancies, but within the caucus there are indeed members capable of stepping into the shoes.

Presiding Officer

First prize would be someone who has occupied the hot seat and for that reason Sharna Fernandez would be a good choice.

If continuity and stability is considered the DA might look towards Wendy Philander, one of three current rotating House Chairs. Interestingly most of the time when she presided over sittings the opposition has been friendly towards her and she has been lenient towards the opposition, giving them more attention.

A wild card who could attract alot of criticism but is capable is Andricus van der Westhuizen, this might not be an option the party will consider.

An option the DA would want to consider is Daylin Mitchell, who did well as Deputy Chief Whip. Since his transport and public works ministry was modernized to mobility, he now only condemns public transport incidents and after each road (transport) accident he issues condolences.

Whippery

Daylin Mitchell could also return to the Whippery as Chief Whip. This might also be more accepting for the rest of the caucus, he once served as deputy chair.

I've previously written that a strong candidate, who has the knowledge, to be Chief Whip is Andricus van der Westhuizen. In the position he can use the fact to being one of the older members in the House to get respect and maintain order. 

Should Wendy Philander, who is also DA Women's leader in the province, not be presiding officer she could be considered to maintain order amongst members. Another female and for continuity would be Deidre Baartman, current Deputy Chief Whip.

First prize for the DA would be the party's Federal Chairperson, Ivan Meyer. He is a former chief director of provincial training, lecturer in public policy and local governance and has published work on education, housing, local government and public administration.

Should Fernandez, Mitchell or Meyer vacate the executive, it is highly unlikely Premier Alan Winde will make major changes. He will most probably just fill the vacancy with either Philander or Dan Plato.

The position of Chief Whip become vacant after the sad passing on of Lorraine Botha, in August.

By end November the position of Speaker of the Western Cape Legislature became vacant, on a point of technicality when Masizole Mnqasela's political party membership was terminated. This resulted in him losing his seat as member of the legislature, thus creating the Speaker vacancy.

Mnqasela indicated to his now former party he will approach the courts to reinstate his party membership. This and the fact that he was not removed as Speaker is no reason for the House not to elect a new Speaker.

DA Cape Town no.2 more interesting

The DA announced Geordin Hill-Lewis as it's Mayoral Candidate for the City of Cape Town. An announcement that came as a no surprise.

There are a few important events surrounding the announcement of the mayoral candidate.

The first thing to keep our eyes on is whether the incumbent Dan Plato will complete the current term, or will he move to the national assembly and become a back-bencher or will he move to the provincial legislature.

Should Plato move to the Western Cape Provincial Parliament the second thing to keep our eyes on is if he will become and MEC and who will make space for him in cabinet?

LIFO [Last In, First Out] would probably be the easiest solution, Daylin Mitchell could be dropped as Transport and Public Works MEC and become the answer to the third important thing to keep our eyes on: who will be candidate for Deputy Mayor.

For Hill-Lewis to have governance experience is not that crucial but his lieutenants and especially number two should. It thus looks like an easy, simple move but in politics nothing is easy or simple.

Daylin Mitchell might only be minister for a few months, but he is a former chairperson of the transport and public works, as well as premier and constitutional matters committees. He is also a former deputy chief whip and deputy caucus chairperson.

One can expect the Deputy Mayoral Candidate position to be a bigger competition than the Mayoral one.

Race is a sensitive issue and the DA who believes in non-racialism might give some hope to the current deputy mayor Ian Neilson for another term or Mayco Members JP Smith and James Vos to throw their names in the hat. Neilson, Smith and Vos have the expertise for the position and would give great support to Hill-Lewis as a Mayor. It would however be difficult to convince not only voters and potential voters but also party members that with white Mayor and Deputy Mayor Candidates the DA is not a white party.

From within the DA there would be a push that the number two be a person of colour. Four names come to mind...

Top of the list is Xanthea Limberg, whose name have been previously rumoured as a potential deputy mayor candidate, followed by Zahid Badroodien.

The other two on my list might not have governance experience but they know the communities, are regularly on the ground and to an extend are engaging on the streets. They are Angus McKenzie, the Bonteheuwel-ward councillor, and Reagen Allen, chairperson of the standing committee on community safety and cultural affairs and sport.

Three of the above eight names have previously hinted at aiming for the blue cloak. There could however be wildcard candidates like Patricia van der Ross and Dr. Arlene Adams.

The DA can be very predictable, applying textbook politics, like watching House of Cards and West Wing at once. Thus, when selecting the number two for the City of Cape Town, the DA should be honest and take parties like the EFF, NFP, Good, Icosa, CDR and the Patriotic Alliance serious. 

It should also first decide whether the status quo will do or will they want to stir the pot – like deal with pending disciplinary matters…

Youth month should stress future possibilities

As the curtain closes on another youth month, I ask myself what remarkable change transpired in the lives of our youth during June?

Celebrations this year took place against the backdrop of several incidents of rape and murder of young children. To make matters worse the majority of perpetrators, if not all, are youngsters. If that is not enough to raise alarm bells, the fact that social challenges have played a role in almost all of these cases is significant.

We have long passed the stage of straightbacked alarm at the news of a rape or murder of a child. By now we should be sitting on the edge of our seats and asking ourselves rather earnestly, “where and when did we take a wrong turn?” Whom or what do we blame? Drug addiction, the drug lord who owns the means of our degradation, the merchants who pass the quick fix from one hand to the next? Or, are we going to blame peer-pressure?

A very good friend reminded me recently that it is tougher being a youngster today than a few years ago.

The youth of today are exposed to peer-pressure on a higher scale, communities with higher expectations from our youth – mainly because there are more opportunities – and then there is the pressure of social media.

As we put filters on our photographs, we cannot seem to do the same with our lives.

I draw the conclusion that changes in life expectations are largely to blame. Our youth are trying to keep everyone happy and to fit in. Very little focus, however, is given to our youngsters as individuals. The individual rather focuses on expectations from family, the community, friends, social media, and so on, but not their own goals, their vision.

The solution looks simple by addressing the challenges and paying attention to individual goals, but is that what we are doing? And what contribution is society, generally, making?

Something that has bothered me for some time now is the fact that we don’t give justice to the thousands of young people who, 41 years ago, stood up for what they believed to be wrong and to make shifts that finally led to a democratic South Africa.

Youth Day, and more still the month, is intended to commemorate the youth legends of yesteryear. But also to look at the challenges our youth battle with today.

Instead of doing this, Youth Day has just turned into another public holiday, an opportunity to drink, to be lazy or to just enjoy sports events.

On Youth Day I posted on Facebook: “I fail to understand why every Youth Day there is this and that sport thing. Sport is not the only thing our youth are good at and not all youths are interested in sport. Let’s not only focus on entertaining our youth but also inform and educate them to be better leaders.”

The more positive comments hold that sport unites, is healthy and promotes team spirit.

I still wonder, though: how many young people actually attend the sports events, and I don’t just mean those participating or are forced to be there.

Besides a certificate of participation and possible trophy, what else did our young people accomplish by the end of youth month?

If we want to address the challenges of our youth, we will have to be more creative than a sports event or two. If all the song, dance and sports are planned better Youth Day can be used to provide an opportunity for our young people to get information to further their studies, employment opportunities and learn more about different industries of employment.

Open days are not only for schools.

It is not only matriculants who need bursaries and do we have a database of unemployed young people in our communities?

Daylin Mitchell, member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, recently said in parliament the youth in our rural communities should be empowered.

What have youth development and opportunities been to young people in rural areas over the past five to seven years? How many cases are there not of an older individual, with more work experience, being employed instead of a young person with a degree, because the young person lacks the work experience? No opportunity is given, though, to the young person to gain the necessary experience.

I agree with my friend the MPL, that if young, previously disadvantaged South Africans aren’t empowered they will remain in a social void.

Youth development, then, is about presenting opportunities for the future, or we fail the Class of ’76.

• Original post appeared as Post Scriptum in Paarl Post of Thursday 6 July 2017