Taking youth away from drugs will be my priority, says Galedzana

Nkele Galedzana is a young woman with clear-cut goals for the youth of her ward.

Galedzana (26), who is standing as an independent candidate in Ward 75 after apparently being ‘out manoeuvred’ by her ANC party, said she would put youth development as priority number one on her to-do list.

“As I perform charity and community work in the ward, I have noticed and spoken to a number of youths who are into drugs and they all talk of despair as having driven them to drugs, such as being jobless, unskilled and unemployable,” she said.

She hopes to partner with NGO Lwazi Fefe which is run by Kukie Mokwena and provides meals to drug addicts and other community members. “We will bring skills to the youth and get them certificated so they can find jobs or start their own small businesses to turn their lives around.”

Having championed a number of clean-up campaigns in the ward and the township at large, including the recent clean-up at Pan Mall, Galedzana said she would harness the power of the youth to clean up the ward. She said dealing with crime would also be a priority.

“I want to be a councillor on the ground and on the move and get things done and service delivery working once again. Above all this, I want to unite the ward and stop this nonsense of referring to hostels areas as ‘eNkatheni’ [reference to the residents being members of the Inkatha Freedom Party].”