Zille And Masondo Make Finals Of World Mayor Contest
South African Mayors Helen Zille and Amos Masondo have stood their ground against 820 mayors from across the world to claim a place among the 50 finalists in the 2008 World Mayor Awards.
Inset: Helen Zille and Amos Masondo (SAPA)
The mayors of Cape Town and Johannesburg now need your vote as they compete against the mayors of cities like Paris, Miami, Shanghai and Rome in bringing the coveted award to Africa for the first time.
Launched in 2004 by City Mayors, a London-based online platform on urban governance, the award recognises mayors who espouse the qualities, skills and passion needed in making their cities amazing places to live, work, play and visit.
An ability to foster good relations between communities from different cultural, racial and social backgrounds has been highlighted by City Mayors as an important leadership quality.
Previous winners of the World Mayor Award include John So of Melbourne, Australia (2006), Dora Bakoyannis of Athens, Greece (2005) and Edi Rama from Tirana, Albania in 2004.
This year's list of 50 finalists includes 11 mayors from Asia, 10 from North America and 11 from Latin America, 15 from Europe, as well as 3 from Africa. The other African mayor is Omar El Bahraoui of Rabat, Morocco.
Citizens of the world are invited to cast their votes online along with a comment on their mayor of choice. The editorial board will eventually choose the winner and runner-ups based on the number of comments received as well as the persuasiveness and passion of comments posted in support of a mayor.
City Mayors' profile on Helen Zille highlights her success in overcoming attempts by the provincial government to downgrade her office and an attempted coalition coup.
The website also describes her as an astute media operator, making mention of her Newsmaker of the year title earned in 2006.
Amos Masondo's efforts in developing the economy of the City of Johannesburg as well as his focus on the HIV/Aids crisis, infrastructure development and the build up the 2010 FIFA World Cup are highlighted in his profile.
Masondo was elected to a second term as mayor in 2006. In 2007 he became vice-president of United Cities and Local Governments, an umbrella organisation for municipal associations throughout the world.
Cast your vote by visiting www.worldmayor.com
Voting closes at the end of June with the final results to be announced in September.
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