Pressure on councillor to step down
Residents of Ward 32 are calling for the resignation of DA councillor Sandra Fillis.
Scores of residents of Nelson Mandela Bay’s northern areas burnt tyres in Stanford Road on Monday to show their discontent.
Their complaints ranged from a lack of service delivery to a lack of job opportunities.
The residents, accompanied by small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) owners from Ward 32, took to the streets after Fillis allegedly ignored several attempts by the group to set up a meeting.
The group also closed off the councillor’s office and said it would only reopen it once Fillis agreed to meet them.
Spokesperson Milton Whitebooi said residents wanted Fillis to resign.
“She doesn’t even stay in our ward, but in Booysen Park, in Ward 29,” he said.
Whitebooi said that all structures of Ward 32 were fed up with Fillis because, he claimed, she had turned a municipal office into a DA office.
Whitebooi said there were a lot of unanswered questions regarding the ward that Fillis had to account for, something he said she was avoiding.
“You have a lot of youth taking part in this protest because they’re unemployed. It should be the councillor’s job to provide opportunities for our youth,” he said.
Whitebooi said Fillis kept giving jobs to the same people, instead of giving everyone employment opportunities.
“There’s no service delivery here. Our roads haven’t been tarred in a long time and there’s poor lighting, which has contributed to a rise in crime.”
Fillis declined to comment and directed questions to DA chief whip Werner Senekal.
Senekal said he was investigating the matter.
“[There are] 10 grievances. I’m dealing with it,” he said.