By Gaye Davis
Independent Political Bureau
DA leader Helen Zille's unveiled fresh new faces as candidates for the national and provincial legislatures in the forthcoming elections - but there's still a question-mark over her own plans.
Introducing some of the candidates at a briefing at parliament earlier today (SUN) Zille said her party still had to take a decision on where she would add the most value - and she wasn't about to pre-empt that.
She said she had three options: staying on as mayor of Cape Town, where she leads a coalition that governs the city, returning to Parliament as an MP or standing as the DA's candidate to become premier of the Western Cape.
Zille welcomed party newcomers as well as DA members rising through the ranks.
Fresh candidates for the National Assembly include academic and executive chairman of the Africa Genome Education Institute, former Agri-SA president Lourie Bosman, well-known Afrikaans radio personality Niekie van den Berg and 28 year-old DA media officer Lindiwe Mazibuko, dubbed a "star performer" by Zille.
Independent communications consultant Sej Motau, in number two spot on the DA's Gauteng list , is also headed for the National Assembly, as is former South African Institute of Race Relations researcher Dr Anthea Jeffrey and Albert Fritz, Western Cape based regional manager of the Office of the Inspecting Judge of Prisons. DA media officer James Lorimer is on Gauteng's national assembly list, while his sister Kate is on the DA's Gauteng provincial legislature list.
New provincial legislature candidates include MP Khosi Mdlalose, the daughter of Inkatha Freedom Party co-founder and former KwaZulu Natal premier Frank Mdlalose (KZN), who has defected from IFP splinter party Nadeco, as well as Stellenbosch University academic Dr Ivan Meyer.
While the lists have yet to be finalized, Zille said she expected few major changes.
However, should she be selected as the party's Western Cape premier candidate, her name could appear in the number one spot on the province's list for the national assembly. That place is currently held by party CEO and strategist Ryan Coetzee, followed by James.