Sunninghill residents want DA ward councillor removed

The Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Sunninghill Ratepayers Association have been at odds for several months over the alleged non-performance of ward councillor, Candice James.

But DA Johannesburg caucus leader Leah Knott denies receiving a document, dubbed by the association as a “portfolio body of evidence”, giving a detailed account of its multiple gripes with James.

It contains two bound books with complaints from residents about James’ lack of action, terse responses to e-mails, non-performance, and seeming general lack of interest.

Yet, the DA member of parliament tasked with the constituency, Cameron Mckenzie, acknowledged receipt and referred the complaints back to the municipal DA leadership.

DA chief whip in parliament Natasha Mazzone was horrified to learn of the rift between the ratepayers and elected representatives and has offered to help should no resolution be found.

“I am deeply disturbed to hear that there is a problem that remains unresolved. I would like the opportunity to review the documents and to discuss and resolve with provincial leadership.”

First, the ratepayers reached out to Mackenzie after a string of correspondence with the DA’s chief whip for Johannesburg, councillor Wendy Alexander and Knott amounted to naught.

“We even went as far as attempting a vote of no confidence against Ms James,” said chair of the Sunninghill Ratepayers Association Linda Gildenhuys, adding that in the association’s quest to get better representation, or even just to get the incumbent representative to act, recourse was near impossible.

“We were told by Ms Knott that Ms James cannot be removed unless she is found guilty of misconduct in the council or is in breach of the DA Public Representative Code of Conduct.”

The association believes James has failed the community and must be removed.

“All we want are our challenges as a community to be dealt with by our elected representative. Whether it is a pothole, illegal squatting, the drug dealers on the street corners or by-law enforcement.

“While we understand that the DA does not run Johannesburg any longer, a ward councillor is surely duty-bound to take up community issues before a broader forum?”

The DA’s website confirms this, stating: “From neighbourhood watches to power outages, your local councillor can assist you with municipal issues where you live.”

James has allegedly resigned and subsequently withdrawn her resignation.

However, she did not respond when asked about this and neither did Knott or Alexander have any comment.

James is known, not affectionately, as “post office” for her predilection to forward e-mails to other persons without comment or response.

“We are not even sure whether correspondence is read. Many e-mails are never responded to at all. When we follow up on issues, it is likely the second e-mail also gets forwarded, maybe even the third. Then it all goes silent.”

In an e-mail seen by The Citizen, Alexander’s PR, councillor Anne-Mieke Plekker, lashed out at the frustrated ratepayers, saying she did not like the tone of their e-mails.

“But what could she expect after months of inaction from the people we voted for?” asked Gildenhuys.

James did not respond to any questions posed by The Citizen, despite several attempts to draw comment.

Alexander’s first response attempted to deflect queries, offering instead a general note on the roles and responsibilities of ward councillors, but remained mum on the issues raised by the ratepayers. In addition, Alexander offered an interview only after meeting with the concerned community.

The chief whip only reached out to the ratepayers association a day after receiving The Citizen’s query.

A follow-up attempt did solicit comment from Knott though.

“We have been trying to set a meeting with the ratepayers for a very long time,” it read. “The (ratepayers) have been unable to confirm a date for such a meeting with our caucus leadership.”

Knott went on to deny ever being in receipt of a “body of evidence” as provided to Mackenzie, yet Mackenzie acknowledged receipt of the document and said “it was agreed the DA caucus leadership and other councillors in the area would address the issues raised”.

By Hein Kaiser