Ward 81 independent candidate Theo Lengwati believes although he was soundly beaten in the municipal elections, the whole exercise had been a learning curve for him.
Lengwati was speaking to Alex News after he was beaten by the DA candidate Joanne Horwitz who retains the ward under her party.
The DA garnered the highest votes in the ward, 2 183, followed by the ANC (2 139), and third was the new kid on the block ActionSA with 1 282. The EFF was fourth with 879 while Lengwati came in fifth with 186 votes.
“I don’t take it as defeat or a thrashing but rather as a learning curve for the future,” said Lengwati. “We have built relationships in the process with other parties and other candidates and I am quite confident that things will look pretty much more different in the next five years.
“We have made an impact on people who are outside politics, who now look at us and say they are going to back us up in whatever we do from now onwards, leading up to the next five years,” he said.
Lengwati said he might have lost the fight but certainly not the cause. “I believe it is still a moment to celebrate this journey as we have made a bigger step than we anticipated and it is a matter of seeing it through even if it takes another five years.”
Ward 81 includes a section of Alexandra under River Park. The residents of River Park were forcefully removed from their houses in areas around KwaMadala and KwaNobuhle hostels during fighting between the ANC and the IFP in the 90s.
