Cape Town – Longtime Cape Town budget activist Sandra Dickson will join the City Council caucus for the GOOD Party replacing Anton Louw who is stepping down to focus on his accounting practice.
Dickson, who founded the organization Stop City of Cape Town (Stop COCT), has spent eight years fighting what she views as an accelerating tariff burden making the city increasingly unaffordable for residents.
“She immersed herself in the City of Cape Town’s budgets and budgeting process, founded the organisation Stop City of Cape Town (Stop COCT), and became a well-informed, consistent thorn in the flesh of the DA-led City,” said Brett Herron, GOOD Party Secretary-General, in a statement issued on 3 March.
According to Herron, Dickson brings formal training from the financial sector and love of mathematics to her activism work. He said her mathematical background has enabled her to see through the City’s PR and calculate the real impacts of its ever-shifting-upward tariff regime on ordinary residents.
“She understands that good governance and reducing inequality should be equally weighted,” Herron stated. Herron expressed confidence that Dickson “will work tirelessly to make a real difference” and said her appointment “strengthens the party’s growing community activist core.”
Anton Louw, whom Dickson is replacing, was described by Herron as “excellent” but is stepping down as his accounting practice requires more of his time.
First hand experience
Dickson told TygerBurger she joined the GOOD Party to make a difference where it counts.
“After eight years as an activist battling the City of Cape Town’s indifference which ranged from the City ignoring protests over runaway tariffs, water and electricity issues I joined the GOOD party. Armed with firsthand experience and knowledge of what matters to voters, I shall work tirelessly to make a real difference. In the past the City stonewalled me relentlessly and dismissed my input bluntly,” she said.
“External activism hits a dead end with the City. My move to join the GOOD party will change that, unlock meetings, give me access to more information, and real leverage to scrutinize City policies from a legitimate platform. I will also be able to channel constituents’ concerns straight into Council and make their voices heard.”
“For me, this new era in my life allows me to directly challenge the DA hegemony in Council. With GOOD I can finally bring my activism to the next level and use the opportunity to have a real impact on Council and the decisions it takes.”
