Senior councillors will be missed

At least three highly experienced councillors may not return to the Makana Municipality Council after August, following their retirement from Council at the end of the current term. ANC chief whip Julie Wells will leave Council at the end of the current term after 15 years of service and DA caucus leader Les Reynolds is also retiring after 23 years of serving in the Makana Council.

Meanwhile Congress of the People (Cope) leader Nozipho Plaatjie’s political future hangs in the balance, because as it stands, Cope will not take part in the 3 August elections. This is due to the fact that their candidates do not appear on the IEC list.

Plaatjie has made it known that she would prefer not to retire from politics, but her party’s failure to make it to the final IEC list could sadly spell the end of the long journey in local government.

The departure of such experienced and highly knowledgeable councillors could have significant effects on the running of the new Council of Makana. All three councillors have been among the most vocal in Council, raising critical issues. This will certainly be missed. Not to say there isn’t enough capacity in Makana to take the city forward, but from a continuity point of view, having a nice mix of old and young councillors can only be good for Makana.

A good example of this mixture of youth and experience is the three women at the helm in the current Council.

Executive mayor Nomhle Gaga has received much praise for the work she has managed to do in such a short space of time during her term as mayor, after taking over from Zamuxolo Peter in the second half of last year.

Probably the youngest Speaker to preside over the Makana Council, Yandisa Vara has worked closely with Gaga since they both started last year.

The third member of the trio who has a lot of experience under her belt is acting municipal manager Riana Meiring who has also been at the receiving end of a lot of praise since she started acting in the post.

It is an encouraging sign to see that both Gaga and Vara are on the ANC’s PR list for the upcoming local government elections.

Many will take comfort in the fact that plans have been put in place to advertise the municipal manager job following the finalisation of a protracted court battle with former candidate Paul Notyawa.