Born and raised in Humansdorp, Ward Councillor Kholisile Ndzelani is no stranger to helping people in his community and now, with assistance from the Housing Development Agency (HDA), he plans to build much-needed flush toilets for people staying in informal settlements.
Before being elected as Ward 6 councillor in November last year, Ndzelani was an active member of his community for many years.
In 2007, he joined the Humansdorp Community Police Forum (CPF), to help fight crime in his community and from 2006 to 2008 he was able to help many people in informal settlements when he served as the squatter coordinator within the Department of Housing at the Kouga Municipality.
With his passion for young people and the unemployed, during his time as a squatter coordinator, he was able to arrange training for the youth in his community to help them gain skills as brick makers, thanks to sponsorship from the Department of Social Development.
“My driving force is to serve the people in my community, especially young people,” said Ndzelani.
Some of the challenges in his community included roads that were in a bad condition, lack of housing despite many houses being approved but have not been built, high levels of crime, teenage pregnancy, and alcohol abuse among young people.
In addition to this, the community centre, Vergenoeg Community Hall, was dilapidated and there was an overflow of people and lack of staff at the KwaNomzamo Clinic, which has resulted in patients sitting outside, regardless of weather conditions.
Despite the many challenges faced by the community in Humansdorp, first on Ndzelani’s list of priorities for this year is to tackle the lack of flush toilets at informal settlements in his ward.
With help from HDA, he is currently working on a project to build flush toilets for people staying in informal settlements in Polar Park, Shukushukuma and Bungalos Squatters.
Ndzelani said once he receives confirmation from HDA, they plan to start the project soon.
“I have been an active member of my community, but I could not always help people in need; now I have a better opportunity to deal with the issues my people are faced with,” said Ndzelani.
He said that since joining the local municipality, the support from his community has been good and he is in constant communication with his community via a WhatsApp group which he created.
“My hope is to build houses, fix the streets and create jobs for the people in Humansdorp,” said Ndzelani.
