Ward 32, meet your candidate councillors
JOBURG - The by-election for Ward 32 is set to take place on 13 August and will see three candidates contesting to become the new councillor for the ward.
The upcoming election will take place as a result of the former councillor, Darren Bergman, being elected to Parliament.
The three candidates contesting the election are from the African National Congress, the Democratic Alliance, and the Inkatha Freedom Party. The three candidates are Tebogo Sithathu, Bongani Nkomo and Thobekile Nkosi. They all shared their plans for the ward, should they be elected.
Tebogo Sithathu is a member of the ANC and has also served in the area as a member of the ward committee.
He explained that, if elected, the plan will be to ensure members of the community benefit from development, and that development will be based on merit.
“The plan of development comes from the mayor and includes ensuring that people adhere to bylaws enacted by the city,” he said.
Sithathu expressed plans to create employment for young people, deal with crime issues prevalent in the area, and create recreational facilities for the youth. He also stressed the desire to improve arts and culture in the ward as part of integrating members residing in the ward.
The second candidate for councillor is IFP member Thobekile Nkosi, whose involvement in the ward includes working as a volunteer in the community of Alexandra.
Nkosi stressed the intention of the IFP to look at community needs and find out the needs of young people and how best to meet them.
“As the IFP we identified certain issues in the community that need attention, and were determined to take charge and ensure that the community gets what it needs,” she said.
Some of the issues Nkosi stressed include improving infrastructure in the ward, and the focus on getting the community more involved in issues affecting their livelihood.
The last candidate for the Ward 32 is Bongani Nkom of the DA, and his credentials include working as a community operations manager for the Alexandra/Houghton constituency.
Nkomo joined the party as a volunteer in 2010 and explained that should the DA be re-elected to the ward, they will focus on issues such as crime, service delivery, education, and dealing with breaching of bylaws.
“As I am still a part of the youth, I aim to engage with the youth in an attempt to establish community-based programmes that will advance their interests,” he said.
