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Today We Explore Fairness, Freedom of Choice and Disappearing Facebook Replies

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A number of my Ward 7 friends alerted me this morning to a post of Facebook advertising one of the Ward 7 Candidate Councillors Open ‘Meet Your Candidate’ Meeting at the Mill Park Bowling Club.

Now – I tend not to get excited when someone posts an informational such as this – after all the more awareness we can all create as a collective of Political Parties and Movements around the 2021 Local Government Election the better.

Anyway I popped along to the post and saw that someone in the comments section had asked for a list of ALL Ward 7 Candidates thus; “Will you be featuring the other candidates for Ward 7 on this page as well? Would love to make an informed vote.”. The reply to the commenter was short and succinct; “Please attend the meeting and read the XX Manifesto.”

Not a way to promote our community and city nor instill that important sense of fairness in any voter methinks…

So in the interests of assisting this seeker of knowledge I posted this reply; “A list of all Ward Candidates in Ward 7 (and ALL others) can be found here: https://ward7.co.za/ward-7-candidate-councillor-list/” – there are a total of 17 Candidates for Ward 7.

It took less than 2 minutes for my reply to be deleted from the page! See screenshot below.

Now – what does that action tell me?

  • The candidate/party feels threatened/frightened/overwhelmed by competition
  • The candidate/party feels entitled and privileged
  • The candidate/party has no wish to make our democracy stronger through free sharing of information
  • The candidate/party has NO WISH to work with other parties
  • The candidate/party has no wish to assist ANYONE with a legitimate question around their voting choices.

If I was THAT party/candidate my reply would have been thus; “Thank you so much for wanting to make an informed choice when you cast your votes on 1 November 2021. Your vote in our democracy is important for our Metro. You can find a list of all Ward 7 candidates here: https://ward7.co.za/ward-7-candidate-councillor-list/ AND the current Ward Councillor for Ward 7 can be found here: https://www.elections.org.za/pw/StatsData/List-Of-Current-Ward-Councillors.”

Alan Straton for Councillor in Ward 7
Screenshot of Alan Straton’s Reply re a list of additional Ward 7 Candidate Councillors – removed in record time!

Author: Alan Straton from Ward 7 Nelson Mandela Bay.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.