Boetie Maname comes out guns blazing

Incoming ANC councillor Boetie Maname has thrown the gauntlet at his comrades to consider employing more Coloureds and whites in the Bela-Bela Local Municipality.

Maname (previously known as Boetie Pahl) recently succeeded in wrestling the town’s Ward 9 from the DA.

In a wide-ranging interview with The BEAT, he said the predominantly-Coloured constituency of Spa Park loved the ANC, but much more could be done to grant them a sense of belonging.

“Looking ahead to next year’s general elections, I am convinced a lot more people can vote for the ANC, if services are improved and the unemployed are absorbed into the programmes of the municipality,” he said.

Maname gave as a perfect example the return of former DA Councillor, Keenan Alberts, to the ANC as a clear signal that there was renewed optimism about the ruling party within the community.

He said the main reason the ANC beat the DA during the recent by-elections was that the community was allowed to nominate a candidate of their own choice.

“The recurring problem of people with personal agendas was evident (ahead of the Ward 9 by-elections, but at the end of the day the community was allowed to nominate a candidate, and the rest is history,” he said.

Before being elected into council, Maname worked for the Bela-Bela Local Municipality.

He started his schooling at Spa Park Primary School in the 1990s and proceeded to the Middleburg Secondary School.

On his return home he worked with his uncle, Ben Pahl, in the construction industry, but also got hooked up with the ANC Youth League, and later became active as Spa Park ANC branch deputy-
secretary.

Like many commentators, Maname said the success of the ANC in Ward 9 was due to, among others, the renewed spirit of activism triggered by the rise of President Cyril Ramaphosa to president of
the country and the organisation.

Maname is headed for matrimony with his partner, Elizabeth Likavha, and has a one-year-old son, Richard.
He is a supporter of the Professional Soccer League (PSL) club, Kaizer Chiefs.

— The BEAT