Candidates clash over Ward 112
Twenty-eight candidates will go head to head for Ward 112 in this year’s municipal elections on Monday November 1.
The DA won the ward by a landslide, with 94.03% and swept all six voting districts in 2016, followed by the ACDP with 2.01% and the ANC with 1.87%.
This year, the competition heats up with the Good party, which did not run in 2016, and the Freedom Front Plus party (FFP), which came fourth in the previous elections.
Ward 112 includes Durbanville, Morningstar, D’urbanvale, Goedemoed, Rosedale, Pinehurst (west of Brackenfell Boulevard), Langeberg Village and Durbanville Meadows.
The incumbent DA ward councillor, Theresa Uys, is seeking a third term. Security in the area is her top priority, she says.
Born in KwaZulu-Natal, Ms Uys has lived in Durbanville for 21 years.
She’s previously served on the Stellenberg High School governing body, the Durbanville Heritage Society and the Durbanville Development Forum.
The City will continue extending the Law Enforcement Advancement Program (LEAP) project and provide additional Law Enforcement officers, she says.
“During this past term, six CCTV cameras were erected in order to create a safer Durbanville. We’ll also continue to support the neighbourhood watches and the Morningstar Neighbourhood Watch will be receiving a donation of various items to support their programme.”
One of the items on our current five-year dashboard, is the erection of the Morningstar Security Fence on Langeberg Road to provide security for the new housing complex.
Also on her to-do list is a project to turn the Durbanville taxi rank into a public transport interchange with formal trading kiosks.
“The rank will also include a multi-purpose facility to host community upliftment programmes such as: The Women for Change, Strengthening Families and Youth Life Counts programme.”
FFP ward candidate Sandra Adams was born in Zambia but spent her adult life in Cape Town.
She is the chairwoman of the FFP’s Durbanville branch and frequently attends the Durbanville Business Chamber’s meetings.
Previously, she worked as a trainer and researcher for the Thomas Reuters Corporation for 15 years and served as the chairperson of the Racecourse Neighbourhood Watch and was a member the Durbanville Community Police Forum for seven years.
Ms Adams hopes to curb pollution in the area by focusing on recycling, prioritise infrastructure maintenance and make Durbanville more environmentally friendly.
A major concern for her is the number of homeless people in the area, and she says she will work with NGOs to help her get homeless people back with their families or in shelters.
“I will also support and educate the community by means of responsible giving. Irresponsible giving is now a major contributor to the influx of homeless people.”
The “unrestrained practice” of affirmative action is to blame for poor service delivery, she says, claiming experienced managers and professionals were pushed out of municipalities to make way for those with “limited or no skills”.
Good ward candidate, Morne Joseph, from Wellington, has been living in Durbanville since 2010 and hopes his nine years served as a police officer at Durbanville SAPS and five years spent in private security will be valuable assets if he is elected.
He wants to tackle Durbanville’s “filthy public areas” as well as poverty and homelessness.
“I will involve the community in everything that I do. I hope to create a list or database of all the homeless in the area and find out who actually wants to go back to their families but needs financial aid to do so.”
The true potential of a community lies in the upkeep and maintenance of its municipal properties, whether its the lights, parks, roads, drainage systems or safety initiatives, he says.
“To date, I’ve logged anything that can lead to the deterioration of the community to the CIty of Cape Town so that it can be actioned or repaired,” he says.
Other parties contesting the ward include: the African Restoration Alliance, Al Jama-ah, African Freedom Revolution, Cape Coloured Congress, Cape Muslim Congress, Credible Alternative First Movement, UDM, The Greens, The Organic Humanity Movement, Our Nation and Spectrum National Party.
The ACDP and ANC could not provide a response before the time of publication.