POLOKWANE – Len, who is a member of the Economic Freedom Fighters, is the Ward Councillor Candidate for Ward 22 (Suid Street, Webster Street, Ivydale and Ivy Park) and says he has always been a rebel.
Born in Pretoria, Len grew up in the town of Komatipoort and attended high school at Hoërskool FH Odendaal and always had the interests of others at heart. Growing up during Apartheid, Len never agreed with the old regime and strongly disagreed with oppression and sympathised with the plight of others.
“My father once told me that there was a man locked up in jail (Nelson Mandela) and he is being wrongfully incarcerated and I thought ‘Why would you lock up an innocent man?’ and that is where my consciousness about the plight of others under the Apartheid regime started,” he explains.
Len says his rebellious nature was stirred because he was constantly questioning why people were being oppressed and wanted to fight for the rights of the oppressed. He was chosen as a ward councillor candidate on 3 May and his responsibilities include taking care of people’s well-being and standing up for their rights. He says going to the communities he represents and seeing the plight of some of the people angers him but it also motivates him to do more. “A type of anger sets in when I see that people, more than 20 years into democracy, still live in these terrible conditions,” he says.
Len believes that many problems would be solved if there was a community-based welfare centre in which people from specific wards could try and resolve problems together. He strongly believes that more work and less talking should be done. “I’m an instinctive person. If it sounds logical, I’ll do it.”
When asked why he chose to join the EFF, Len poses the counter question: “If you have a problem, do you treat the symptoms or would you rather treat the cause?”
He says the EFF is the ideal party for him and many others because they strive to get to the root of a problem in order to rectify it.
Furthermore, he states that South Africa has the capacity to sustain itself but to do that, more industry has to be created so people can work and he says the EFF has the ability to do that.
Len believes the two things the country needs in terms of politics and governance are more employment opportunities as well as the restoration of law and order in the country. “You cannot restore law and order if people do not eat. You can preach all you want but if a man is hungry because he cannot afford food, he is not going to listen to you, that is why we need more employment opportunities,” he says.
He believes voting is very important as it gives people an opportunity to make their voices heard and he believes the EFF has the ability to make South Africa more prosperous and economically stable by prioritising industry.
Len draws inspiration from personal experiences and his belief in a living God, and believes one should just keep going no matter what happens. “Whatever you put into life, you will get back,” he says.
He is motivated by the people he interacts with on a daily basis and says that what he does is not determined by race. He says he uses his personal battles as motivation for others. He also uses the lessons learned during his time at a missionary that he and his wife established in 2005, Gospel Ministry South Africa, to help others and to assist them with their struggles in any way they can.
Len stands by the statement: “When the going gets tough, just stick to your guns”, and when he is not helping others, he is most likely running errands in the city or farming.
He encourages the community to feel free to approach him with their problems, whether it be unemployment issues or other concerns they may have. “When people are in need, I do my best to try and help them because I have the desire to fix their problems,” he says.
