Head to head poll

A HOTLY contested by-election was fought between the ANC and the Democratic Alliance in Ward 3 on Wednesday with the result still to be announced.

A Ndlambe council seat was open after the death of councillor Maria Mike, who died last November after a long illness. Ward 3 comprises Bushman‘s River Mouth, Marselle and Klipfontein.

Going head to head were local ANC and union bigwig Simphiwe Funde, who is the secretary of the ANC sub- region, and DA newcomer Sandor Isaacs.
Known for being poorly attended generally, this by-election was no different.

By 8am only 14 people had voted at the Klipfontein polling station, with only two ANC supporters standing outside and about 12 DA supporters. By noon about 200 voters had gone to the polls, which stayed open till 9pm.

However, canvassing was competitive, with strong support from the DA‘s national and provincial structures. MP Donald Lee addressed supporters on Tuesday night and Annette Lovemore, also an MP, spent the day talking to supporters at the polling stations.

Former councillor Eric Khoatani, who is soon to be sworn in again as an ANC proportional representation councillor, was also actively engaging supporters.

Veteran DA councillor Louise Swanepoel acknowledged that the ANC had a large majority in Ward 3 but “we are flying the DA flag high”.
Lovemore told TotT the DA‘s support had grown in Marselle in the general election last year.

The DA got 12% of the vote in Ward 3 in 2006 and 21,6 % last year.
“It increased by 9% and we hope to grow it again by a similar margin this time,” said Lovemore.

She described the DA‘s candidate as “young but with so much potential”.
Isaacs, 30, has lived in the community of Klipfontein his whole life.

He serves the community as chairman of the Klipfontein Kleuterskool overseeing operations, maintenance and service delivery. He is also active in youth soccer development as well as serving as the chairman of Klipfontein Netball Club.

Isaacs told TotT he started getting actively involved in politics last year. His vision is to help with job creation in the impoverished community of Klipfontein, by assisting with skills development.

There is no clinic in Klipfontein and Isaacs wants to lobby for a clinic and for a promised new school to be built.
On the crime front, he wants something to be done about illegal shebeens in the area as well as underage drinkers. The area needs better policing, he said.

Many houses still don‘t have electricity or running water and he wants to lobby for that to change.
He was confident the DA‘s vote would increase substantially this by-election.

His opponent, Funde, has strong ANC credentials. He served as right-hand man to recently slain ANC stalwart Thembile Bethe in the ANC sub-region, and has been active in the SA Municipal Workers‘ Union.

He has been active in local politics since 1990, first in Cosas, then the ANC Youth League and now the ANC and Cosatu.

Funde told TotT the main challenge for the ward was water and sewerage.
“Sewerage is in crisis in Marselle,” he said, but he was hopeful that a MIG-funded project in June would change the situation.

“A lot of water is being wasted because of leaking taps in Marselle which needs urgent attention,” he said.
Another issue was the many stray cattle in Marselle. Farmers need land because their current municipal farm is too small for all the cattle, he said.

Rectifying problems with poorly-built houses is also on his agenda. A general plan is needed to be put in place for housing and infrastructure in Klipfontein.

The building of a new school is also high on his priority list. The old school is in a dilapidated condition and is dangerous, he said.
“I‘ll tackle problems daily as they come up. There‘s not much time before the municipal election next year,” he said.

He said he was willing to work together with opposition parties.
Cope did not field a candidate in this by-election. Regional secretary Stwiga Njibana said the party was not prepared for the by-election and would rather spend its energy preparing for the municipal elections next year. - JON HOUZET and GEORGE PETZER