BEREA ward councillors, Chris Pappas and Martin will bid a heartfelt farewell to residents as they take up their elected positions as amember so the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature.
Pappas and Meyer were sworn in to the Legislature on Tuesday, 22 May, and will start a new journey in their political lives for the next five years in the Provincial Parliament.
Speaking about his resignation as ward 31 councillor, Pappas said it was a sad but exciting time for him.
“It has been a challenging but exciting three years as councillor for ward 31. It has been a privilege to serve the community and a fulfilling experience. I must thank all the people who gave me this opportunity,” he said.
Recalling some of the highlights of his term as councillor, Pappas said the installation of more ablution facilities at the Lacey Road settlement was a memorable one. He also counted the establishment of the Berea Interfaith Forum, the development of a service delivery App for residents, the various stormwater upgrades that helped relive the deviation of floods in Sydenham, his routine street meetings with residents, the fence in Berea Park and the improvements seen around the Overport among his list of highlights.
“The thing that I will miss most about being a councillor is being able to facilitate and manage diverse groups of people, bringing them together around an idea or goal and working towards its achievement. All the time balancing personalities, differences and opinions. When you do this right and you see everyone working together, you truly see the potential our country has,” he said.
He said he looked forward to the next five years in the KZN Legislature where he has been assigned the portfolio on Agriculture and Rural Development.
ALSO READ: #SAElection2019 results show poor voter turnout
Councillor Meyer said it had been an honour for him to represent ward 27 over the past eight years. He said he was grateful to the people of Morningside and Greyville who gave him this opportunity, and who stood by him through good times and tough times.
“Ward 27 is the most diverse part of the city, it’s culturally diverse, religiously diverse, with nine old age homes, but also has a young element with Florida Road. It’s been a real rollercoaster ride. There have been some huge challenges, but we’ve also made great strides forward. I do feel with the challenges we still face, that the improvements we’ve seen in Florida Road have really helped the community as a whole, and there’s been many projects that came to fruition. When I was elected in 2011 I made it my mission to move the community forward past the thing where we have high walls and don’t know our neighbours. Now, almost every street has community groups, street braais, WhatsApp groups, and the community has really moved closer together. I’m really proud of how things came together,” he said.
Meyer said that it was with very mixed feelings that he is moving on, but excited to be going onto the legislature.
“Although I’m not directly elected by the people of Morningside and Greyville, I will also continue to strive to represent the people of the community I am from on this next level of government. I want to thank everyone for all the letters and emails over the past eight years, criticising me, helping me, giving me advice, and also saying thank you. That’s what gave me strength. I came in much younger, much less wiser, and the people of this community have helped develop into the person I am today,” he said.
Meyer encouraged residents to go out on by-election day and make their mark and vote for someone else to take over the ward. He said he would also be there to assist the new councillor with the transition to make it as seamless as possible.
Do you want to receive news alerts on this and many other stories relevant to the Durban area via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Berea Mail WhatsApp number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts
