Ward 66’s councillor-elect Carlos da Rocha is ready to continue serving the residents of his ward.
He moved to Observatory in 1991.
“I started getting involved in politics after seeing a massive decline of the area 20 years ago. The deterioration of the area culminated to the point where I was met by piles of rubbish whenever I exited my gate,” said Da Rocha.
“That prompted me to to engage with the ward councillor at the time and I was elected onto the ward committee, where I served two and a half terms,” he said.
“Becoming part of the ward committee gave me more access to the understanding of service delivery and why it was failing. My focus moved away from the councillor and I started focusing on the municipality. That is where I picked up where the problem was,” said Da Rocha.
“The time I served in the ward committee I started using the 2010 FIFA World Cup leverage to improve the area. This area was very bad. It was so bad that people were afraid of the area.
“The area was declining day by day and I took it upon myself to champion service delivery to the area.
“I took on the city council and I started getting results. Five years later my councillor of the time said she was not going to serve another term and she was stepping down. So I said to her if you going to step down I am going to take over from you,” said Da Rocha.
“I made myself available. I was chosen as a candidate. I won my ward very comfortably and became a councillor. When I was elected as a councillor I chose a couple of main problems that were serious in the area. I became involved in repairing the Rhodes Park swimming pool and other projects too. Another big achievement was the improvement of service delivery across my ward. The streets are clean. Property value also increased across ward 66. There is still room for more,” he said.
“As I have succeeded in most of my projects during my previous term I will now embark on new projects. One of my biggest problems in the ward is dumping and littering. I will go on a Keep Ward 66 Clean and Green campaign.
“Residents will get fined if they get caught dumping. I will also tackle the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) more aggressively as I feel they are failing my community.
“To my voters, I am humbled by the confidence you put in me, I retook my ward by a massive increase in my votes. The election results show that I have done well in the past, and that my residents have trust in me. I will now try and do even better,” he said.
Residents can contact Da Rocha on 083 447 3648.
