Some residents of Ward 84 are at loggerheads with ward councillor Norman McFarlane and have lodged a formal complaint to the office of Councillor Desirée Visagie, DA chief whip in the City of Cape Town.
Visague confirmed a complaint was received from the Helderberg Care Community Forum (HCCF) on Thursday 22 September.
“The complaint will form part of processes undertaken by the office of the chief whip to investigate the matter that has been brought to our attention with regard to Councillor Norman McFarlane, as is done with any complaint received,” she responded to an enquiry from the DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette.
The HCCF was formed three months ago by several disgruntled Somerset West community activists, ratepayers and neighbourhood watch members concerned with numerous service delivery, safety and infrastructure issues in the ward, many of which are allegedly exasperated by what they term the “political immaturity” and “non-existence” of McFarlane.
The ward councillor is a fairly new to the political landscape, having no prior experience in local government before his election as Ward 84 councillor in last November.
According to HCCF, complaints such as lack of communication, rude reprisals and total absence when serious issues occur have been lodged with the forum, calling for urgent mediation to address the “fragile trust” between McFarlane and the community.
HCCF chairperson Andrew Jansen van Vuuren claimed residents were alarmed at the apparent lack of response to email communication sent to the councillor, and have raised concerns regarding cancelled meetings without reason, lack of communication around the ward’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP), and have experienced patronising attitudes, lack of respect and impatience when asking questions.
“It is the opinion of rate-paying constituents in Ward 84 that in the past 11 months the ward councillor has done little to inspire confidence and trust in his ability to represent ratepayers and voters of the ward. While the DA is free to deploy the ward councillor wherever else it sees fit, given the damage that is being done to the reputation of, and ultimately support for the party in Ward 84, it is suggested that both the party and the people of Ward 84 would benefit from his replacement with a representative who is more amenable to representing the ratepayers as they expect and deserve,” read the official complaint by the HCCF.
The complaint was supported by Lilian Albertyn, who oversees several neighbourhood watches in the Helderberg including that of Van der Stel in Ward 84. She alleged several concerns regarding the safety of the elderly and social decay have not been acknowledged by the councillor, and said the community feels they do not have his backing.
Another complainant, Heidi Weeks said she reached out to McFarlane on several occasions, in her bid to convey concerns regarding vagrancy, but she was apparently sidelined without feedback.
All complainants said the councillor constantly provides excuses to postpone meetings, until one was eventually held last Monday (3 October). They, however, claim the gathering was not properly advertised. At the same meeting, residents apparently accused McFarlane of being rude and shouting at residents, allegedly telling an elderly man to “shut up”.
In his defence, McFarlane stated communications regarding notifying the community of the meeting was spread “as far and wide as possible, including 21 WhatsApp groups and Facebook”.
“As chairperson of the meeting, I constantly had to call the meeting to order, so officials and I could be heard, that the audience could hear questions asked and the responses. I had to raise my voice significantly on multiple occasions to make myself heard in calling the meeting to order. I am at all times forthright, which is easily misconstrued as rude,” he explained.
“I never told anyone to ‘shut up’, but I did, on multiple occasions, raise my voice and told community members to quieten down and wait their turn to ask questions”.
He insisted he consistently engaged the community on issues affecting the ward via multiple communication channels since his election. “I have heard the community’s concerns and I have consistently responded with facts. Every email about concerns raised has been responded to, either by me personally, and/or by officials.”
McFarlane clarified that a private WhatsApp group, which residents complained had a strict vetting process to be included in, is in fact the Ward 84 Information & Service Delivery WhatsApp group.
“The group is open to any resident of Ward 84,” he said. “I have repeatedly advertised the group on the other 20 WhatsApp groups on which I am present, as well as my public ward councillor Facebook page, inviting people to message me privately with their full names, address, and (initially) municipal account number, so I can confirm that the person lives in Ward 84. I’ve since removed the need for the municipal account number. People are at liberty to join the group, provided they confirm their residence in Ward 84. People are under no obligation to join the group.”
