If you live or work in Blairgowrie, Bordeaux, Randburg CBD, and parts of Sandton, Julie Suddaby is your new go-to person if you are experiencing poor service delivery.
Former Finance MMC for Joburg, former shadow MMC, and current member of the city’s finance oversight committee, Suddaby is the new stand-in ward 102 councillor. She takes over from David Potter, who resigned at the end of May with three years left until the end of his term in 2026.
Also read:David Potter will take time to pursue personal interests
Suddaby will hold this position until a by-election for a new permanent ward councillor will be held on August 23.
Potter mentioned many instances of failed service delivery, looting of public funds, luck-lustre attitudes from city staff and the exodus of employees there who care, poor voter turnout and verbal abuse from residents, as some reasons for not seeing out his term.
Suddaby said the state of this has not changed much since then.
“Buying a home is generally our biggest expense and we purchase this in the hope that we have a decent place to live and hopefully have a legacy to leave,”she said.
“Seeing the city crumble around us and the value of our home drop in sync with the city’s decay creates distrust and anger in our residents. Most of my engagements have been reasonable, but there are those who are very angry and those engagements can be difficult.”
Suddaby said her goal for the next two months will be to assist residents, home owners and business owners to have successful interactions with the entities of the city, and do what she can to influence the delivery of services that residents pay for.
Suddaby had been a proportional representaion (PR) councillor since August 2016 in wards 77, 133 and 111 (all in Ivory Park) and ward 92, which extends from Country View to Kaalfontein.
In these roles and as the MMC of finance from December 2021 to January 2023, she said she has nurtured relationships with officials in the city.
“I am confident I can bring my experience of assisting residents in Ivory Park receiving service delivery to bear in ward 102,” she added.
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