Ward 117 Democratic Alliance councillor and candidate for the 3 August elections, British-born Tim Truluck, said he was confident that the upcoming election would yield a good result for his party.
The ward covers suburbs such as Pine Park, Pierneef Park, Victory Park, a portion of Blairgowrie, Delta Park, Parkhurst, Parktown North, Rosebank, Parkwood, Saxonwold, Braamfontein Spruit, Johannesburg Zoo, Zoo Lake and Craighall Park.
According to the councillor, he was in Cape Town on holiday in 2011 when he received a call asking which second language he preferred for his election poster. Truluck said he had applied for the councillor position but had not expected to hear from the party as soon as he did.
“It was a wow moment,” reminisced the 54-year-old.
“I was new to politics, new to the DA and I knew it was going to be a lot of work.”
Before joining the DA in 2011, Truluck did research for a family consulting business. Prior to that, he held a position of questions producer for the South African version of the popular television show The Weakest Link. He also ran a magazine on the green areas fit for dog walking in Johannesburg, and lived in Zambia in the early 90s.
“I am community minded, I did urban history and environmental studies at UCT and ended up with a Masters,” said the flamboyant councillor.
“I used to love researching the history of where I lived. I wrote the history of Parkhurst, Linden and I researched Melville but never wrote it. That helped me a lot when I became a councillor.”
According to the former British army soldier, it’s much more difficult to vote in a local election. “Voters have to go to their exact voting stations. The hours are shorter and you only get a 60 to 65 percent turnout.”
He added that those factors would not deter his party since it had a history of doing better in local elections. “We are better at getting our voters out and that’s part of what I am doing with my e-mail newsletters.
“I educate and remind residents to ensure they have done the basic necessities such as registering and being aware of their voting stations.”
The councillor said his term had been a successful one and he looked forward to working with the community again, post elections.
“Generally, we call the area true blue. These are traditional wards for the DA and it’s as blue as far as you can see and it’s not going to change.”
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