The article "Good and bad in the Tlokwe farce" (Pretoria News, 2 August) deserves comment. The Potchefstroom face-off between the ANC and the DA is the epitome of what is wrong with our democracy and that it is possible to ensure genuine multiparty democracy.
The ANC believes it is entitled to power despite the rule of law, the democratic will of the people and policies dictating the election of office bearers.
Hence the pathetic but failed attempt by the ANC mayor of that city to cling to power. To add insult to injury, the ousted Mayor now threatens to change the place name of Potchefstroom to Tlokwe once power is retained again.
The name change threat is unfortunate. Not only does this confirm the suspicion held by many that the name change drive has little to do with celebrating the contributions of all in the country, but that it is a revenge-based endeavor.
A mayor, as is the case with a premier or the state president of the country, must demonstrate statesmanship by not only promoting the interests of a specific political party, but of all the residents despite political affiliation. A logical point of departure in this regard will be to ensure quality service delivery to all.
Everything the former mayor of the Tlokwe municipality, Maphetle Maphetle, said and did over the past few weeks underlined his inability to grasp this basic truth of a genuine and mature democracy.
The Tlokwe incident also has an important message to South Africa at large. There is power mobility within the ANC and in the party political arena in general. It is up to voters to realise that they don't have to be satisfied with second-best and that they have a choice regarding the type of government they want. The power is seated with the voters, not with the politicians.
