New ward 31 councillor prepared for the job

CHRISTOPHER Pappas, who won the ward 31 election last week, says his win has left him humbled and overwhelmed and excited to start work in his new ward.

Pappas promised that a productive five challenging years lay ahead, but he was glad people who voted for him approved of what he was selling them about himself.

Pappas, (25), got into politics as a student at the University of Pretoria where he was studying Urban and Regional Planning. He was involved in a student outreach programme when he was approached by COPE to run under their banner for the SRC as an academic representative.

“I agreed and ran for a year in this position. The university asked me to run as the temporary president of the SRC. I was involved off campus as an activist with Siobhan Muller, a ward councillor in the area. When I started applying for jobs, I took a look at the DA’s website, as I liked the party and was interested in working with them,” he said.

Pappas went for an interview with the City of Johannesburg Central region and two days later the DA in KZN poached him. He worked as a campaign manager in the southern regions from 2014 and then moved on to work under Diane Kohler-Barnard for a year helping to run 26 wards down south.

“I applied for ward 31 18 months ago and began the process, which included three interviews, online tests and a year long performance management review. We were given targets which we had to meet or better, and I worked under the guidance of Martin Meyer, Jethro Lefevre and Nicole Graham, as well as Hassan Haniff, the ward 25 councillor. After running 26 wards, I’m glad to have one ward to focus on now!” he said.

Pappas describes himself as a hands-on, hard working man, something he explains he learnt growing up on a farm in Mooi River. He attended Treverton Prep and moved on to Hilton College before going on to study for four years at Tuks. He had to put his Masters on hold but has applied at UNISA to study community development studies. Pappas is passionate about helping people and was involved in a lot of outreach projects in Pretoria. He also started the Society for Architects and Town Planning students, however he said his biggest achievement was negotiating to extend library hours and provide transport for students.

“On the personal side, I come from a massive Greek family. My mom Jacqui, who is from Durban, and my dad Mike, who is from Nelspruit, still live on our farm in Mooi River. I have a younger sister, Elizabeth who is studying to be a pilot, and was a horse rider for South Africa. We are a very close family,” he said.

Pappas’ hobbies include fishing and he enjoys fly fishing on the farm to relax. He also enjoys studying. “I love being around people and keeping busy,” he said.

Pappas enjoyed a weekend at his family’s farm to celebrate his win, with his partner, JP, and activists who helped with his campaign.

“It was great to have some down time, but now it’s time to get on with the job. Ward 31 is a very diverse community and there is division between the different groups. I aim to set up a forum where the community can talk about issues in the ward. I also aim to find something for the youth to do to better the community. There are some great ideas to get the youth off the street, and being young myself, I know how hard it is to get a job, but when you put your mind to something, you can achieve,” he said.

His goal, he says, is to get the basics right, by attending to potholes, streetlights and working on keeping the area clean.

“I hope to get this right, by working with the municipality. A councillor is a representative of the people, not someone who runs the ward, and I encourage people to participate to help me to be the mouthpiece for the community in council,” he said.