REFLECTING ON TEN SUCCESSFUL YEARS IN OFFICE

After a successful ten-year stint serving as Hilton’s ward 6, councillor Craig Millar is bowing out of the upcoming municipal elections to spend more time with his young daughters.

In the last two years alone, Millar has navigated Hilton through three waves of a global pandemic, and then in July this year, an unnerving and turbulent week of civil unrest.

“It hasn’t been easy, that’s for sure,” he told The Hilton. “It’s a tough job for someone who cares for his community on two levels: as a representative and as a resident himself.

“As a person who cares about his community, it’s tough to witness job losses, fearfulness and, at times, division as a result. As a public representative you have legislative and political duties to perform but I have tried really hard to engage in community building which I believe is just as important.”

As much as Millar enjoys being in a position to effect change, sometimes his hands are tied too.

“It’s challenging to get local government to take action and to get policies and by laws into effect, and to ensure the right things get focused on,” he said.

“On any given day I could be given 20 requests and I would have to prioritise whose problem is more important. You have to balance and juggle the fights you can win with the fights you can’t win but still need to be fought.”

He recalls being moved to tears many times when he has been faced with the conditions people in his ward still live in.

Reflecting on the last ten years, Millar is proud of what he has achieved in his ward. On the community front, one of his biggest accomplishments is rallying the community to work together.

“I learnt that I can achieve a little by myself, but by working together we can achieve a lot more. One doesn’t always have to be the face of the campaign,” he added.

During his two terms Millar has been instrumental in working closely with the Hilton Steam Heritage Association, assisting with launching the Hilton Business Initiative (HBI), and building and maintaining a good relationship with Hilton Ratepayers Association (HRA), as well as being an active member – a partnership Millar says did not exist between ward councillors and the HRA previously.

He has also been involved in setting up the HBI’s clean-up campaign, which has now morphed into Love Hilton, an area Millar says he will continue to focus on in his personal capacity going forward.

“While I’m not standing again for public office, I will continue to be an active member of the community in my personal capacity,” Millar said.

On the legislative side, he says relationship building is a big accomplishment.

“You achieve this by doing the research; not just finding faults, but offering solutions. I’ve learnt that while you are in opposition, you don’t have to be opposed; after all, we have the same end goal,” Millar said.

Another achievement is creating good, open communication channels within the ward. One example is the Hilton Communications Facebook group Millar was active on.

“I believe I empowered people to be able to help themselves. I also made sure I made myself accessible to people. I would set a table outside The Quarry Centre and invite people to come and chat to me. A lot of success has come from that and I do think I’ve had a successful two terms,” he said. Millar is proud to be part of the Hilton community.

“Hilton is far more integrated than I think a lot of people give it credit for,” he adds. “The daily interactions with people and friends I have made over the years representing a wide demographic range are a testament to how South Africans can live together united in our diversity rather than allowing people to divide us.

“In times of crisis the greater Hilton community has come together to support each other and it has been really gratifying to feel the support I have got from people and organisations when collecting donations and initiating local programmes.”

He names getting elected with a 15% increase in majority from 2011 to 2016 as one of the highlights of his double term, and the wonderful friendships he has formed.

“The friendships and enduring relationships with people have made being a councillor very rewarding,” Millar said.

“The hardships and challenges that we have faced as a community, and which tested my metal on many occasions, were also an opportunity for personal growth.

“So, not only will I leave office knowing that I have contributed positively, but that I have come out a better person myself – wiser and more humble and with a positive outlook for the future of Hilton.”