ANC candidate punts renovation
AFTER 34 years in education, Struggle veteran and Spes Bona High School deputy principal Gerald Johannes, knows what it is to lead. That is why he has thrown in his hat to be a candidate for ward 28 in Elsies River.
Johannes said he was confident his years of experience working, from the sidelines, to advocate and uplift the community would count in his favour.
“I didn’t just wake up one morning and decide that I want to be a councillor. No, I have been a resident in this ward for years, and I have witnessed first hand the blatant disregard for the people by the DA’s candidates.”
“There has been no development in this ward for years. No housing projects in over 30 years. The only development taking place here is people converting their backyards into homes. We are even known as the community with the most backyard dwellings. Unemployment is rife, crime, GBV, not forgetting high council bills for water and electricity.
“As a resident who loves this community, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for it. I couldn’t sit by and watch the DA take another term. I needed to act and putting my name down as a candidate for councillor was the first step,” he said.
Johannes promises to initiate housing projects to benefit residents who have been waiting years to own a home. He said he wanted to resolve the ward’s water crisis, community safety, unemployment, uplift and revitalise ward 28’s local economy, and tackle high municipal bills.
Johannes is chairperson of the local policing forum, an anti-GBV activist, and head of a community advice organisation that works to assist residents with various issues.