Students for Social Justice, Independent candidate Christopher Bryden Mc Michael

Blessed be those who carry our dreams of a brighter future forward.


Christopher Bryden Mc Michael, the Independent candidate for Ward 12 of the Municipal Elections, photographed on election day, Wednesday 18th May 2011, outside the Rhodes University Drama Department, Price Alfred Street, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. He came third in the polls, behind the Democratic Alliance party who won the ward, followed by the African National Congress party who came in second. “So the results are being added up as we speak. Regardless of the outcome we have achieved something remarkable here today and we will use this to push things forward and keep at it. We should all be proud of running a campaign that outstripped everyone else's in tenacity, vigor, passion, audacity and ideas.”- Chris Mc Micheal’s Facebook status, 18 May 2011 at 19:58. © Neo Jasmine Mokgosi 2011.

Christopher Bryden Mc Michael, the Independent candidate for Ward 12 of the Municipal Elections, photographed on election day, Wednesday 18th May 2011, outside the Rhodes University Drama Department, Price Alfred Street, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. His campaign was based on the notion of direct accountability and transparency as framed in his manifesto, his intent to “actively create a space for the political representation of Rhodes students, and foster strong and enduring relationships between Rhodes and the broader Grahamstown community”. © Neo Jasmine Mokgosi 2011.

Ward 12 Independent candidate Christopher Bryden Mc Michael and friend Benjamin Fogel, representing the Students for Social Justice Movement, photographed on election day, Wednesday 18th May 2011, outside the Rhodes University Drama Department, Price Alfred Street, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Mc Michael, in his manifesto, pledged to “sign a recall policy to ensure that I can immediately be removed if he failed to meet the criteria set by the voters. A figurehead’s leadership is only legitimate so long as they are supported by their electorate.”- Chris Mc Michael. © Neo Jasmine Mokgosi 2011.

Christopher Bryden Mc Michael, the Independent candidate for Ward 12 of the Municipal Elections, photographed on election day, Wednesday 18th May 2011, outside the Rhodes University Drama Department, Price Alfred Street, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. “The idea is simple but radical: politics should not be about top-down plans where leaders decide what your problems are for you, get your vote and then proceed to do whetever they want to. Democracy must be about the people it claims to represent.”- Chris Mc Micheal’s election manifesto. © Neo Jasmine Mokgosi 2011.