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Challenges facing DA where Cyril Ramaphosa resides

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa had to swallow his words after he said he “could smell ANC victory” after casting his special vote on August 2.

This was not to be‚ as the Democratic Alliance retained the ward in which he lives — ward 90 in Johannesburg — in the recent local government elections.

Despite having a distinguished citizen in his ward‚ the DA councillor who won the ward says there are high socio-economic issues of people living informally in the ward.

Speaking to TMG Digital on Wednesday‚ the newly-sworn-in DA councillor Martin Williams says despite having Ramaphosa and other prominent people in his ward‚ the situation was getting out of hand.

“One of the biggest challenges the City — in particular ward 90 — faces is an extreme form where we have about 400 or more displaced people some of whom are either waste pickers or work in construction sites living in George Lea Park. These people don’t have homes and they are causing a huge problem in almost every suburb‚” said Williams.

According to Williams‚ George Lea Park has the most informal settlements where people opt to reside due to work opportunities due to close proximity to their workplace.

“The City up to now has had no policy for them. They would go into these suburbs with JMPD and drive people out and burn their possessions‚ but they would be back the same night or the following day‚” he added.

He blamed the City of Joburg’s Displaced People’s Unit which was formed under the ANC as ineffectual and underfunded. He said it was inexplicable that the economic hub’s budget for dealing with the issue has been halved at precisely the same time as the number of people living in places such as George Lea Park has increased dramatically.

“The unnamed culprits in both of these issues the huge construction companies that are building in Sandton because they employ a lot of people living informally in the area.

Williams‚ the DA candidate for Ward 90‚ won the seat ahead of his nearest rival Joy Coplan of the African National Congress. He received 8‚703 out of the 10‚616 counted votes‚ which represents an 81.98% majority.

He is a former editor of The Citizen newspaper and was on the local ward committee‚ before being asked by the DA in February last year to work as a proportional representation councillor in Lenasia South. He has also been a member of the Craighall Park Residents Association executive committee.

Having lived in the area for more than 20 years‚ Williams said he was familiar with the changing needs and challenges in Ward 90.

Ward 90 includes the following suburbs‚ or parts thereof: Clynton‚ Craighall‚ Craighall Park‚ Dunkeld‚ Dunkeld West‚ Glenadrienne‚ Hurlingham‚ Hyde Park‚ Illovo‚ Melrose‚ Parkmore‚ Riepen Park and Sandhurst.

Former presidents Kgalema Motlanthe and Thabo Mbeki also reside in a DA-controlled ward in Killarney‚ Johannesburg. The municipality of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal‚ in which President Jacob Zuma’s private homestead is located‚ is run by the Inkatha Freedom Party.

 

 

 

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