The DA has controlled Kraaifontein and Brackenfell, since 2006, but several parties, including the ANC and the EFF, hope to change that come the next municipal poll on Wednesday August 3.
However, the DA, pointing to newly built houses and wi-fi zones in parts of Kraaifontein, says its track record in the area for the past 10 years is something other parties can only dream of.
The DA, which toppled the ANC in 2006, is sticking with the same faces, with councillors Grant Twigg, formerly of the UDM, and Marian Niewoudt, formerly of the New National Party, standing for their third and fourth terms in wards 7 and 8, respectively.
Ward 111 DA councillor Brenda Hansen and DA proportional representative councillors Roxanne Hoorne and Xoliswa Pakela-Mapasa contest for their second terms in the Bergdal chambers.
Mr Twigg, who is also the Sub-council 2 chairman, said priorities for the party include reducing the fire risk in informal settlements, building infrastructure and houses and supporting the youth.
Ward 6 ANC councillor Simphiwe Nonkeyizana will face the ACDP’s Ashley Johnson, the African Muslim Party’s Wasfie Hassiem, the DA’s Xoliswa Pakela-Mapasa, among others.
The ANC’s Mr Nonkeyizana took 4 496 of the 7 710 votes counted for Ward 6 in the 2011 municipal elections, grabbing a winning margin of 1 432. The ward covers Brackenfell Industrial; Everite Industria; Protea Heights, Brackenfell; Ruwari; Scottsdene and Wallacedene.
Bulelani Yeko, EFF Ward 6 candidate, has promised to “shake” the DA-led Sub-council 2, should he be voted into office.
He said he would make sure the land issue was on the agenda at all sub-council sittings and vowed to fight for jobs for the youth and better housing. He plans to use several open spaces in Wallacedene for small businesses, houses and gyms for the youth.
Mr Yeko, a former National Union of Mineworkers shop steward at a construction company in Mpumalanga, also took aim at the ANC in Kraaifontein, saying it had failed to to deliver.
“We will shake both parties until they’re awake, but importantly, we will lead our people towards change in Kraaifontein,” he said.
Vying for Ward 7, against Mr Twigg, will be, among others, EFF candidate Theresa Snyders, the ANC’s Dennis Taaibosch and the African People’s Convention’s Thanti Alfred.
Mr Twigg took 81.88 percent of the vote in 2011 (7 246 out of the registered 8 849 voters). The ward covers Belmont Park (South-east of 12th Avenue, south-west of Station Road and north-east of Van Riebeeck Street and Botfontein Road); Eikendal; Northpine; Scottsdene and Summerville.
In Ward 8, Ms Niewoudt will have to fend off the ANC’s Phillip Giwu, the EFF’s Motialekgotso Lefefa, and Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners’ George Meyer if she wants to hold onto the ward for the fifth time. The ward encompasses Brackenfell central and suburbs, parts of Bottelary smallholdings, Kuils River golf course, Brantwood and parts of Botfontein farms.
Ms Niewoudt enjoyed a resounding a victory when she took 94.27 percent of the vote (12 562 of the 13 326 votes cast) in 2011. Ward 8 includes several farms, which the EFF plans to expropriate without compensation if it wins, to help more black people own land in the northern suburbs, said Mr Lefefa.
“We’re not trying to impress anyone; we’re acting on behalf of the masses, which are in need of land,” he said.
ANC candidate Bradley Muller, the EFF’s Sylvia Bakana and others will be tussling with Ms Hansen for Ward 111.
Ms Hansen faced a hard battle in 2011, when she edged out competitors to win 51.71 percent of the vote (4 790 votes out of 9264 cast). The ward includes Belmont Park (south-east of 12th Avenue, north-east of Station Street, north-west of 1st Avenue and south-west of Plantation Street); Scottsville and Wallacedene.
Mr Muller, an attorney, accused the DA of failing the ward. “I’m from one of the oldest families in Kraaifontein; I know the problems and challenges that we face,” he said.
He said backyarders were still waiting for houses, budgeting had been fumbled and facilities neglected.
He said building a water park in Scotsville when the community was facing water restrictions had been an “ill-informed” decision, one which the DA needed to be punished for.
He believes the DA has not been pushed enough in sub-council, and he believes he is the person to do just that. ”People are fed up, and (Ms Hansen) has been a failure,” Mr Muller, said.
For Ward 101, which falls under Sub-council 7, ANC councillor Luyanda Mbele, who was voted in after a by-election late last year, will run against the DA’s Siseko Mbandezi, the EFF’s Thando Zililo and the ACDP’s Leon Barry, among others.
Former ANC Ward 101 councillor Siseko Mbandezi, who has since defected to the DA, bagged a 94.24 percent of the vote in 2011 ( 8 829 votes out of the registered 9 369). The Ward falls under Sub-council 7 – where Mr Mbandezi is now a proportional representative councillor – and encompasses Bloekombos.
Mr Hassiem is contesting all four wards in Sub-council 2 and says unemployment and drugs are problems the Africa Muslim Party will prioritise in Kraaifontein.
“You should vote for me because I have 20 years of experience in dealing with City-related matters, but, more importantly, I am reliable and trustworthy. I am there to uplift the poor and disadvantaged and am anti-establishment. I have a track record of serving the various communities to the best of my ability.”
