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Candice James in the new Ward 112 councillor
MIDRAND - The votes in the Ward 112 by-election to elect a new ward councillor tallied by 11.30pm on 2 July.
DA candidate-councillor Candice James will take up the reins as the new Ward 112 councillor after she emerged as victorious. The DA won the most votes at every voting station in the ward.
James and ANC candidate-councillor Leverne Young contested the by-election.
The final results at each voting station were:
- Cluny Farm: DA won 333 votes to the ANC’s 27
- The Swiss Club: DA won 1 184 votes to the ANC’s 203
- At Scorpion College, the DA won 268 votes to the ANC’s 86
- St. George’s: DA won 155 votes to the ANC’s 136
- Halfway House Primary: DA won 538 votes to the ANC’s 272
- Midrand High: DA won 265 to the ANC’s 129
- Fly Fishing: DA won 344 votes to the ANC’s 19
Chief Whip of the DA Midrand Constituency Annette Deppe called it a “landslide victory” for the DA.
James will hold the ward councillor position until the next local elections in 2016.
To read what your new councillor proposes to do as ward councillor, click here
Ms Young was the incumbent councillor for the DA. Why did she jump ship to join the ANC?
Moving out of midrand
Hi Mike
The DA is a political party and its focus and performance indicators for its councillors is based on the political activities the councillors do for the DA and not for the ward and its residents. For example: When I was a DA councillor, I did not receive any kudos for helping residents with their billing issues or getting their electricity switched back on but if I went door to door and nagged the occupants for their ID, cellphone and email details for mailing purposes, I received recognition. And the real kicker here is that it is the City of Joburg that used to pay my salary… not the DA and I still had to pay the DA every month too.
When I became a Councillor for the City of Johannesburg, I discovered some of the other “politics” of service delivery – which starts with establishing a good relationship with the city’s service providers. (Note: Have you travelled on the 40 m stretch of untarred road at the end of Jamie Uys street lately? – its been tarred for the first time in over 8 years! My thanks to Joburg Roads Agency and my great relationship with them)
I also realised that as long as it remains a DA Ward, it will be mediocre in terms of its service delivery levels – another part of the “politics” of service delivery. I live here and it is this VERY reason that I wanted more and better delivery of services for my family and the residents because I’m a community activist – not a political lackey.
It was pure coincidence that during the run up to the recent national elections, the ANC executive had discovered that Ward 112, under my watch, was judged in a recent consumer satisfaction survey, as the top ward in Region A of the City of Joburg – despite a very very limited budget allocation.
So they approached me and asked… and I told them that I live here, I’m tired of having to fight for services all the time and I want this to be a model ward…I was also tired of the bullying, the racism and the sexism issues at the DA (notice the absence of women of colour in the DA and the one that they did have…left)
..and they agreed.
The benefits of being a model ward means that the services would be upgraded and faster such as road repairs, lane expansions, traffic light repairs, completion of the Leroux overpass, increased scheduling of verge and grass cutting, prompt illegal rubbish removals, etc. As a model ward, the infrastructure would also be upgraded such as health and school facilities, a multi purpose community and recreation centre, a new anti-crime project and a tourism based job creation programme.
So that is a brief summary of why I left the DA and joined the ANC – I wanted a better future for the ward and myself ..nothing more, nothing less. Leverne 078 221 4919 or info@ward112.co.za
Shows what the people in Ward 112 think of the ANC. Well done DA
Well done TO THE DA. I hope to see some change in the community & may this be a example to the rest of S.A. Leverne you should have stayed with the winning party but you obviously had your reasons for leaving & we respect that. Wish you luck for the future & once again a big shout out to the DA.