TALI FEINBERG
Shayne Ramsay is standing for the DA in Ward 54, which includes Sea Point, Fresnaye, Camps Bay and Bakoven.
“I have to acknowledge the elephant in the room – the size of Jacques’ shoes!” referring to the popular outgoing Ward 54 councillor Jacques Weber.
Ramsay is making herself accessible to her constituents through a Facebook page. “As the ward councilor, I will be responsive to my community, representing their interests to local government, and I will be accountable for my actions.
“I intend to be the liaison representing the collective views of my community to the government in a fair and transparent manner. And once the City of Cape Town has taken a decision on an issue, I will clearly communicate that position back to the ward.”
Thandi Njuti is standing for the ANC in Ward 115, which includes Mouille Point, Green Point and De Waterkant, the Bo-Kaap, the CBD, Woodstock and Paarden Eiland.
“I am running for councillor because change and transformation will not take place on their own. Positive action is required towards pursuing the vision stated on the Freedom Charter, and I feel that I’m capable in leading towards the achievement of this vision,” she says.
“Our city is beautiful but there are beggars and homeless people on every street corner. Our plan is to channel them into rehabilitation programmes and development programmes. Municipal government should be able to equally address and cater for the rich and the poor. Having people scratching in bins looking food and used goods is indecent.”
Njuti also wants to create equal working opportunities. “Most of the industries in Cape Town are seasonal, so we will be looking at maximising revenues during the season and exploring ways of sustaining those revenue streams for job creations.”
Ian Iversen is contesting Ward 59 for the DA. It includes Newlands, Rondebosch, Kenilworth and Claremont. He has been a Cape Town City Councillor since 1984 and this will be his last term of office.
He says: “I have a great concern about the levels of unemployment in our society and believe that it can be reduced at a municipal level by making economic investments easier from a planning/zoning entry point. Secondly, it is important that youngsters receive the best possible education, and the province and city can assist by rolling out free broadband/Internet connections to schools and education facilities.”
Iversen is proud that there’s a large Jewish community in his ward. “I keep in touch with about 220 families on my data base.”
Iversen says “the number of homeless people in the ward is really concerning. A colleague and I have earmarked a piece of land at the Claremont Interchange to construct a much larger homeless shelter, as the present one is falling apart.”
Traffic is a real problem, “as a people still want to drive, one person in a car, to work. We need to support the expansion of the MyCiti bus links.”
Although Jewish Report could not reach Nonceba Mhlauli of the ANC directly, the News24 website reported the following:
She began her campaign to be a councillor of Ward 59 in Cape Town months ago, and even changed her Twitter handle to “Councillor Nonceba”.
Living in the city’s southern suburbs, where there were many young people studying or working, she found there was “a serious lack of social integration and cohesion. “The Southern Suburbs are segregated,” she said.
“A high rate of race-related incidents that have taken place in this area have caught the public’s attention.”
Mhlauli, a part-time master’s student in social policy and African languages, cited housing as a major challenge for young working people in the area. “The rental rates here are ridiculously high. They exclude young people in particular,” she explained.
Other problems in the area included crime, she said, but her main focus would be on starting conversations about racism, inequality and segregation before tackling these scourges head-on.
