Jordaan has exemplary service record
THE DA has a policy or purports to have one that says fit for purpose. This policy is supposed to identify the most suitable candidate to fill any vacancy.
Next year’s local government elections are approaching and the two candidates running are Danny Jordaan, of the ANC, and Athol Trollip, from the DA.
In the interest of all the residents of the metro the suitability of both these candidates must be scrutinised. Jordaan was born in Port Elizabeth, and received his primary and high schooling in the city.
Jordaan holds a BA degree from the University of the Western Cape and an honours degree from the University of South Africa, as well as, a Diploma in Higher Education from the University of the Western Cape. He has been the recipient of four honorary doctoral degrees.
Jordaan worked as a lecturer at Dower College in Port Elizabeth. He also excelled in sport, and from 1970 to 1983 he was a provincial cricket and football player.
In football, he achieved professional status for a brief period. His political and sport interests soon overlapped and the trajectory of his public life was defined, as he became an activist in various organisations fighting to break racial barriers in sport.
He is recognised for his outstanding contribution to excellence in sports administration and society in South Africa. Through his activities in sport administration and society, Jordaan has consistently, and publicly, advanced the ideals of democracy, human rights and non-racialism. His service in the advancement of football in South Africa has been outstanding.
From 1983 to 1992 he served as president or vice-president of various soccer boards. Jordaan has also served Fifa in several capacities.
The breath of his range in sport administration was well evident when, in 1993, he was appointed a director of the Cape Town Olympic Bid Company. In 1997, he was elected chief executive officer of Safa.
He subsequently headed South Africa’s unsuccessful 2006 Fifa World Cup bid. The 2006 experience stood him in good stead, as a crowning moment in his sport administration career was realised when he successfully led South Africa’s 2010 Fifa World Cup bid.
Jordaan became a household name in South Africa during that glorious episode in the country’s recent history. He continued in service of football after the World Cup.
On September 28 2013, Jordaan was elected president of Safa. Jordaan has been an outstanding servant in advancing the cause of social cohesion in South Africa.
Jordaan became involved in anti-apartheid activities by joining the South African Students’ Organisation (Saso) in the early 1970s. Later, he also became a member of the United Democratic Front and the ANC.
He was the chair of the Northern Areas Civic Organisation and the Northern Areas Co-ordinating Committee. In 1990 he was elected chair of the ANC branch in the northern areas.
He was a founder member of Sadtu. In 1994 he became a member of parliament.
He was a member of the task team that went on a study tour to investigate, inter alia, the integration of East and West Berlin. This paved the way for the creation of a single municipality in the then Port Elizabeth.
He was appointed by then-president Nelson Mandela as a member of the foreign affairs delegation to deal with the transfer of diplomatic ties from Taiwan to the Peoples Republic of China, Beijing. He also served on the delegation to negotiate a free trade agreement with the European Union.
He served on the committee finalising the first democratic constitution of South Africa. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to the realisation of a non-racial democracy in South Africa, Jordaan has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a special presidential award from Mandela in 1994, the presidential sport achievement award from then-president Thabo Mbeki in 2001 and the marketing person of the year award in 2000.
In 2004, he was voted in the Top 100 great South Africans and voted South Africa's newsmaker of the year.
Jordaan was honoured by President Jacob Zuma with the Order of Ikhamanga in gold for his excellent work in securing the country the right to host the World Cup and seeing to the success of the World Cup itself. It was voted the best World Cup ever
When Jordaan was elected president of Safa in 2013, he mentioned youth development and the strengthening of women’s football among his priorities. He announced his Vision 2022 Plan, which is a succession plan for national football in South Africa and which aims to develop future soccer stars.
His stature cuts across all racial barriers. His name inspires confidence, trust and success. National and international investors would not hesitate to invest in this city if they knew Jordaan was mayor.
I Googled Athol Trollip’s curriculum vitae and came across the following information. He was born in 1964 in Bedford.
He matriculated at Woodridge College. He was caucus leader of the DA in parliament.
Trollip is currently a MPL in the Bhisho legislature and chairman of the federal council of the DA. He also studied agricultural management
What Trollip fails to mention in his CV is that he challenged Helen Zille for leadership of the DA and failed. He also challenged a political novice, Lindiwe Mazibuko, for parliamentary leadership and failed.
Judging by the experience and expertise of the two candidates there is no doubt which one is the more suitable candidate. If the policy fit for purpose of the DA must be used to determine who must be the mayor of NMB surely the DA will have to admit its candidate fails the test by far.
If Trollip must be scored out of 10, he will have to be satisfied with 2.75.