Cape Town - Former mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron was given the nod as the Good party’s mayoral candidate for Cape Town, in the upcoming local government elections.
While taking several jabs at the City’s DA-run government, Good party leader Patricia de Lille launched the GOOD LGE2021 campaign, with the candidate announcement, at the Cullinan Hotel, in the Cape Town CBD, on Sunday.
More than two years ago, De Lille resigned as mayor after “continuously bumping heads with conservatives”.
“I resigned on my own terms, after winning four court cases against the blue liars who tried to discredit my good name. They have recently had to pay almost R1 million towards my legal fees. After leaving, it became important to me to create a political home for good people who want to do good work,” said de Lille.
De Lille said the party is ready to increase its presence across five provinces and will be submitting its candidate list today, and have drafted its manifesto.
“We have unfinished business in the City of Cape Town, and there's nobody better qualified, more experienced and passionate than Brett to get the job done,” said De Lille.
“Brett has been doing exceptional work in the provincial legislature, from where he has sought to hold both the provincial and city governments to account. He is a lawyer, with a real legal degree, who is driven by desire to be an excellent public servant, rather than desperation for a job,” said De Lille.
In his acceptance speech, Herron outlined how the party would advance spatial, economic, social, and environment justice by rebuilding relationships with the taxi industry and improving the public transport system, addressing the city’s homelessness problem, introducing an accessible public participatory budget, and better housing opportunities, among others.
“It is a mayor’s responsibility to work day and night to create an environment that enables every person who calls the City home to lead progressively more comfortable lives, in better living environments, with functional logistics and infrastructure, adequate safety and hope,” said Herron.
“This responsibility is particularly acute in South African cities that were deliberately constructed to keep residents separate and unequal. We must build common purpose and address fundamental inequalities, or we risk the instability of unresolved reverberations from the past,” said Herron.