Good (political party)

Last updated

Good
Leader Patricia de Lille
Secretary-General Brett Herron
Founder Patricia de Lille
Founded2 December 2018 (2018-12-02)
Split from Democratic Alliance
Ideology Social democracy [1]
Political position Centre-left
Colours Orange  
Slogan"South Africa Needs Good"
National Assembly seats
1 / 400
NCOP seats
0 / 90
Provincial Legislatures
1 / 487
Cape Town City Council
9 / 231
Website
www.forgood.org.za
A GOOD party campaign bus in Cape Town during the 2019 South African general election. GOOD party campaign bus.jpg
A GOOD party campaign bus in Cape Town during the 2019 South African general election.

Good (stylized as GOOD) is a South African social democratic political party that was formed in December 2018. [2]

Contents

The party is led by its founder, veteran South African politician Patricia de Lille, who is the current Minister of Tourism and former Mayor of the city of Cape Town. She is currently the party's sole member in the National Assembly.

The party's political ideology is Social Democracy, with a focus on spatial justice, Universal Basic Income, and environmental justice. [3] The party's stronghold is the Western Cape province. [4] [5]

In May 2019, De Lille was the only opposition member appointed to serve in the cabinet of South Africa. She had stated that Good would remain an opposition party. [6]

In June 2024, Good agreed to join the ANC-led government of national unity (GNU). [7] Leader of the Good, Patricia De Lille, continued serving as South Africa's Minister of Tourism in the coalition. [8]

Formation

Patricia de Lille, leader and founding member of the party Patricia de Lille DA Election-Launch 2011.jpg
Patricia de Lille, leader and founding member of the party

Patricia de Lille is a South African politician. She was elected to the National Assembly as a Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) member in 1994. She held many leadership positions in the party. During the 2003 floor-crossing period, she broke away from PAC and formed the Independent Democrats (ID). [9] The party was the first political party in South Africa to be led by a woman that contested elections and won seats. [10] In 2010, after meetings between the Democratic Alliance Federal Executive and the Independent Democrats Executive, it was announced that the ID would merge with the Democratic Alliance (DA). [11] Members of the Independent Democrats held dual party membership. The ID was officially dissolved after the 2014 general elections. [12]

In March 2011, De Lille was selected by the Democratic Alliance to be the party's mayoral candidate in Cape Town. She was subsequently elected Mayor of Cape Town in May 2011. [13] [14] She served until October 2018. [15] During the last months of her mayoral career, the Democratic Alliance accused Lille of covering up corruption in the municipality. She strongly denied these allegations. When De Lille resigned as mayor, she also resigned as a member of the Democratic Alliance, citing that the party had been abusive towards her. [16] DA Chief Whip Shaun August and many other councillors, including Mayoral Committee Member for Transport Brett Herron, resigned their positions in protest to the removal of De Lille. They were all members of the previous Independent Democrats. [17] It was speculated that De Lille would revive the Independent Democrats and that it would be the "kingmaker" in the 2019 provincial election. [18]

On 18 November 2018, Patricia de Lille launched the "For Good" political movement and website. [19]

On 2 December 2018, De Lille announced the formation of the "Good" political party in Houghton Estate, a suburb of Johannesburg. [20] [21]

Leadership

Patricia de Lille has said that the party's official leadership will be elected after the 2019 elections. The party is currently managed by interim leaders. The National Leadership Committee consists of 36 members. [22] The interim leadership was announced in January 2019 and was as follows:

PositionName
Leader Patricia De Lille
National ChairpersonSam Shabane
Deputy National ChairpersonVacant
Secretary-General Brett Herron
Deputy Secretary-GeneralLehlohonono Mtshali
National TreasurerSuzette Little
National Organiser Shaun August
Deputy National OrganiserVacant
Deputy National OrganiserVacant
Policy OfficerMark Rountree

Election campaign

At the launch of the political party, De Lille said that the manifesto of the party and premier candidates would be announced in early 2019. The party is registered with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and contested the 2019 national and provincial elections in all of the South African provinces. [2]

On 5 February 2019, the party launched its manifesto. The party's manifesto focused on key issues, such as the reduction of the size of the national cabinet, the prosecution of corrupt individuals and the scrapping of the controversial e-tolls in Gauteng. [23]

Collaboration with Rise Mzansi

In August 2024, Axolile Notywala, Rise Mzansi's candidate for Premier of the Western Cape during the 2024 Western Cape provincial election, was appointed by Good to fill a vacancy in the City of Cape Town council. Rise Mzansi stated that the arrangement "cements the two parties' commitment to revive conversations about realigning social democratic politics" and did not not rule out the possibility of a merger, [24] while Good's Brett Herron said that "we are confident that this is only the beginning of a much broader and richer project". [25]

Election results

The party gained two seats in the National Assembly of South Africa and one seat in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. [26] The two parliamentary seats were filled by De Lille and Shaun August, while the provincial parliament seat was filled by Brett Herron. [27] De Lille has subsequently accepted the position of Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure in the cabinet of South Africa but has stated that Good will remain an opposition party. [28] [6]

On 17 July 2019, Good contested its first municipal by-election in the George Local Municipality. [29] The party's candidate was Mercia Draghoender. Draghoender defected from the DA to Good. She had previously served as a ward councillor and the mayor of the municipality. The media speculated that this election would be an upset since Draghoender had good name recognition. [29] The African National Congress also had a good chance of winning this election due to vote splitting [ citation needed ]. The DA ended up retaining the ward but with a majority of only eight votes. Good was in second place with the ANC in third out of several parties that contested the by-election. [29] [30]

The party won its first local government ward in a by-election in November 2020, in Ward 27 (Pacaltzdorp) taking a ward in George from the Democratic Alliance. Richard "Yster" Hector winning the Ward for GOOD, ending up by being GOOD's first ever elected Ward Councillor. [31]

In May 2024, Agang SA endorsed Good for the May 29 national and provincial elections and encouraged its members and supporters to cast their votes for the party on the national, regional and provincial ballots. [32]

In 2024 general election Good won one seat in Parliament (National Assembly) and Patricia de Lille was the sole Good elected MP. [33]

Local elections

In the 2021 municipal elections, GOOD ran in five provinces, six metros, and a thousand wards. The party fielded nine mayoral candidates: general secretary Brett Herron in Cape Town, former Springboks coach Peter de Villiers in his home of Drakenstein, as well as Lloyd Phillips in Johannesburg, Sarah Mabotsa in Tshwane, Lawrence Troon in Nelson Mandela Bay, Elizabeth Johnson in Kimberley, Donovan Saptoe in George, Ryan Don in Saldanha Bay, and Sharifa Essop in Beaufort West. [34]

National Assembly elections

ElectionParty leaderTotal votesShare of voteSeats+/–Government
2019 Patricia de Lille 70,4080.40%
2 / 400
New Second Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa
2024 29,501 [Note 1] 0.18%
1 / 400
Decrease2.svg 1 Third Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa
  1. From 2024, seats in the National Assembly are determined by a combination of the national ballot, and the nine regional ballots. Only the national ballot figures are shown here.

National Council of Provinces

Election [35] Total # of
seats won
+/–
2019
0 / 90
0

Provincial elections

Election [36] Eastern Cape Free State Gauteng Kwazulu-Natal Limpopo Mpumalanga North-West Northern Cape Western Cape
 %Seats %Seats %Seats %Seats %Seats %Seats %Seats %Seats %Seats
2019 0.24%0/630.08%0/300.20%0/730.11%0/800.03%0/490.06%0/300.12%0/330.83%0/303.01%1/42
2024 [37] 0.09%0/730.06%0/300.13%0/800.06%0/800.02%0/640.04%0/510.06%0/380.47%0/301.13%1/42

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom Front Plus</span> Political party in South Africa

The Freedom Front Plus is a right-wing political party in South Africa that was formed in 1994. It is led by Pieter Groenewald. Since 2024, it is a part of the current South African government of national unity together with the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance and other parties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia de Lille</span> South African politician

Patricia de Lille is a South African politician who is the current Minister of Tourism and leader of the political party Good. She served as Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure from 2019 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Cape Town</span> Metropolitan municipality in South Africa

The City of Cape Town is a metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of Cape Town and surrounding areas. As of 2022 it has a population of 4,772,846.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Plato</span> Former mayor of Cape Town

Daniel Plato, known as Dan Plato, is a South African politician and a former Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. He served from June 2011 until October 2018 and again from January 2022 until February 2024. He is the former mayor of Cape Town, a position he held for two nonconsecutive terms from May 2009 until June 2011 and again from November 2018 until October 2021. From June 2011 to October 2018, he was the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Community Safety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Neilson</span> Deputy mayor of Cape Town, South Africa

Ian Douglas Neilson is a South African civil engineer and politician who served as the Deputy Mayor of Cape Town from May 2009 to October 2021. He previously served as the Mayoral Committee Member for Finance from 2006 until 2016 and Executive Councillor for Safety and Health from 2000 until 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geordin Hill-Lewis</span> South African politician and Mayor of Cape Town

Geordin Gwyn Hill-Lewis is a South African politician who is the Mayor of Cape Town. A member of the Democratic Alliance, he was elected mayor in November 2021.

The council of the City of Cape Town in the Western Cape, South Africa is elected every five years by a system of mixed-member proportional representation. Half of the councillors are elected by first-past-the-post voting from individual wards, while the other half are appointed from party lists so that the total number of party representatives is proportional to the number of votes received. By-elections are held to replace the councillors elected by wards if a vacancy occurs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conrad Poole</span> Mayor of the Drakenstein

Conrad James Poole is a South African politician who was a member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament from March 2024 until May 2024. He had previously served as the deputy mayor of the Drakenstein Local Municipality from May 2011 until May 2016 and then as the municipality's mayor from May 2016 until his removal in a motion of no confidence in February 2024. He is a member of the Democratic Alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Western Cape provincial election</span> Election in South Africa

The 2019 Western Cape provincial election was held on 8 May 2019 to elect the 6th Western Cape Provincial Parliament. It was the sixth provincial election held since the establishment of the provincial legislature in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lennit Max</span> South African politician

Lennit Hendry Max is a South African politician, advocate and police officer who served as a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, as Shadow Deputy Minister of Correctional Services (2010–2014), as Member of the National Assembly (2010–2014) and as Western Cape Provincial Minister of Community Safety (2009–2010).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Cape Town mayoral election</span> Held at Cape Town City Council on 6 November 2018

An indirect mayoral election was held at a special sitting of the Cape Town City Council on 6 November 2018 to determine the successor of former mayor Patricia de Lille after she resigned on 31 October. Former mayor and Provincial Minister of Community Safety, Dan Plato, of the Democratic Alliance won the election as the party holds a two-thirds majority in the city council.

Joseph Job McGluwa is a South African politician who was the leader of the Democratic Alliance in the North West province from 2015 to 2020. He has been a member of the National Assembly since 16 August 2018. He was previously in the National Assembly from 2009 to 2015. McGluwa was a member of the North West Provincial Legislature from 2015 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political parties that contested the 2019 South African general election</span> Parties that contested the 2019 South African general election

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) announced on 20 March 2019 that a record number of 48 parties had registered candidates for the national parliamentary election. This is 19 more parties that contested the 2014 national elections. In the provincial legislature elections, the total number of parties registering candidates were:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 South African municipal elections</span> South African municipal elections which were held on 1 November 2021

The 2021 South African Municipal Elections were held on 1 November 2021, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine provinces. Being the 6th municipal election held in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994. These held - since then -every five years. The previous municipal elections were held in 2016. On 21 April 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the elections to be held on Wednesday, 27 October 2021. It had been recommend by Dikgang Moseneke to delay the municipal elections until 2022. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) requested the Constitutional Court to support the date postponement. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) supported the date postponement while the Democratic Alliance (DA) was against the postponement of the date. The Constitutional Court dismissed the application to postpone the date until 2022, ruling that they had to take place between 27 October and 1 November. On 9 September 2021, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced that the elections would be held on 1 November.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillion Bosman</span> South African politician

Gillion Bosman is a South African politician serving as both the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Social Development and the Petitions Committee in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since June 2019. He became a member of the provincial parliament in May 2019 following the 2019 general election. He had formerly served as a municipal councillor of the City of Cape Town from August 2016 to May 2019. Bosman is a member of the governing Democratic Alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaun August</span> South African politician

Shaun Nigel August is a South African politician and former prison warden. He was a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from May 2019 until February 2022 and a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament from February 2022 until his expulsion from Good in May 2023. He began his political career as a member of the Independent Democrats (ID). August was appointed as the party's deputy national organiser in 2006. August joined the Democratic Alliance (DA) when the ID merged with the party and served as the DA's chief whip in the City of Cape Town council from 2014 to 2018.

Brett Norton Herron is a South African politician and attorney who is an incoming member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. He previously served in the house from May 2019 until February 2022. He also served as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa from February 2022 to May 2024. Herron is the secretary-general of the GOOD party. He was the party's candidate for Mayor of Cape Town in the 2021 municipal elections.

Benedicta Maria van Minnen is a South African politician and a member of the Democratic Alliance. She has been a member of the Western Cape Provincial. Previously, she served as a councillor in the City of Cape Town and as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rise Mzansi</span> Political party in South Africa

Rise Mzansi (RISE) is a South African political party founded in April 2023. It is led by Songezo Zibi, a former newspaper editor and co-founder of the Rivonia Circle think tank. The party characterises their ideology as social democratic but has been defined elsewhere as neoliberal.

Sarah Unes Paulse is a South African politician who served in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament from 2004 until 2010 and in the National Assembly of South Africa from 2010 until 2014 as a member of the Independent Democrats. She is a sister of Patricia de Lille, the current leader of Good and the former leader of the Independent Democrats.

References

  1. "Parties and Candidates:GOOD" . Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  2. 1 2 Patricia de Lille names her party 'Good'. Retrieved on 2018-12-03.
  3. "For Good Spatial Justice". forgood.org.za. GOOD. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  4. De Lille’s GOOD party makes its mark in the Western Cape. Retrieved on 10 August 2019.
  5. Cope and GOOD bid for voters tired of major parties and old-style politics, The Daily Maverick, 22 January 2019. Retrieved on 10 August 2019.
  6. 1 2 GOOD welcomes Minister De Lille, Mail & Guardian, 29 May 2019. Retrieved on 10 August 2019.
  7. "ANC WELCOMES POLITICAL PARTIES TO THE GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL UNITY – ANC".
  8. Payne, Suné (3 July 2024). "SA tourism body hails Patricia de Lille's reappointment as minister in the GNU as 'excellent news'". Daily Maverick.
  9. Independent Democrats benefits from floorcrossing rule, South African History Online. Retrieved on 10 August 2019.
  10. Patricia de Lille, South African History Online. Retrieved on 10 August 2019.
  11. Democratic Alliance to absorb Independent Democrats, TimesLIVE. Retrieved on 10 August 2019.
  12. ""Every vote counts," – GOOD leader Patricia de Lille grateful for support". The South African. 9 May 2019. De Lille previously led the Independent Democrats before merging with the DA and being officially dissolved as a separate political party in 2014, which helped secure the DA's control of the Western Cape.
  13. De Lille tipped to become mayor, Mail & Guardian, 21 January 2011. Retrieved on 10 August 2019.
  14. De Lille DA's Cape Town mayor candidate, News24, 14 March 2011. Retrieved on 10 August 2019.
  15. De Lille resigns as Cape Town mayor, quits DA, News24, 31 October 2018. Retrieved on 10 August 2019.
  16. It wasn't going to change - De Lille reflects on 'abusive' DA city breakup. Retrieved on 10 August 2019.
  17. DA Cape Town chief whip resigns in support of De Lille, News24, 25 January 2018. Retrieved on 2018-12-03.
  18. Felix, Jason. Independent Democrats to rise again, IOL, 29 October 2018. Retrieved on 10 August 2019.
  19. De Lille announces new party to contest 2019 elections.Retrieved on 2018-12-03.
  20. De Lille: Good party's leadership to be elected after the 2019 polls. Retrieved on 2018-12-03.
  21. Herron’s all GOOD: Former CT councillor joins De Lille’s party, Mail & Guardian, 3 December 2018. Retrieved on 10 August 2019.
  22. De Lille's GOOD party constitutes interim national leadership. Retrieved on 21 January 2019.
  23. De Lille launches Good manifesto Archived 17 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved on 16 February 2019.
  24. Dentlinger, Lindsay. "Good Party fills CoCT vacancy with Rise Mzansi's Axolile Notywala". EWN. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  25. Charles, Marvin. "Rise Mzansi's Axolile Notywala in dual-membership role as he takes on GOOD party council job". News24. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  26. De Lille’s GOOD party makes its mark in the Western Cape. Retrieved on 10 August 2019.
  27. De Lille set to have a GOOD time in Parliament. Retrieved on 10 August 2019.
  28. Fisher, Shamiela. "Good will remain opposition party, despite De Lille appointment as minister". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  29. 1 2 3 DA deny GOOD by eight votes in George. Retrieved on 8 August 2019.
  30. DA retains George seat, beats Good Party by nine votes Archived 10 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine ,
  31. Payne, Suné (12 November 2020). "BY-ELECTION SUPER WEDNESDAY: Western Cape results: DA holds eight wards, but gets a wake-up call with dip in support". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  32. "AGANG SA throws its weight behind GOOD Party". iol.co.za. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  33. "Election Results and Allocation of Seats in Parliament (National Assembly) and Provincial Legislatures: 2024". pmg.org.za. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  34. Solomons, Tarryn-Leigh (13 September 2021). "De Lille says GOOD party will contest municipal elections in five provinces, including six metros". IOL.
  35. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  36. "Results Dashboard". www.elections.org.za. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  37. "NPE Results Dashboard 2024". results.elections.org.za. Retrieved 11 June 2024.