Elton Jansen counted down the minutes to the November local government elections at the Subcouncil 17 meeting on Monday 18 May.
“We are 169 days, 13 hours, 40 minutes and counting before the 4th of November’s local government election,” the Subcouncil 17 said to chuckles at the Lentegeur Administrative Offices.
He urged members to focus on service delivery rather than mudslinging.
“Bad-mouthing one another is not going to help your campaign,” he said, adding that councillors who had done their work since 2021 had nothing to fear. He noted that Subcouncil 17 had, across party lines – the ANC, ACDP, NCC and GOOD – enjoyed a good working relationship in the previous term.
“Let us remain focused,” he said. “It is now official. So now you are going to see people taking the gloves off and people saying stuff about you. But if you have worked and if you’ve done what you’re supposed to do since the election of 2021, then my personal opinion is you have got nothing to worry about.”
Storms batter Mitchells Plain
Jansen also gave an update on the area’s damages after a ferocious storm last week.
He said that the area had suffered from mature trees blocking roads and homes losing roofs and carports. He praised councillors who were out on the ground during the storm, helping to clear gutters and stormwater drains.
Ward 75 councillor Joan Woodman confirmed that the Colorado Park mosque had been severely flooded, and that a claim of R225 000 had been received for damaged carpets.
“The water just drained not fast enough,” she said, noting that an hour after the rain stopped, the drain had cleared. She thanked Recreation and Parks for responding quickly to fallen trees.
Ward 79 councillor Daniel Christians urged the city to have at least 5 000 sandbags ready for future storms, noting that catch pits were either blocked or too small to handle the volumes of water. He described visiting an elderly resident who had been waist-deep in floodwater, with all her furniture destroyed.
Jansen clarified that while the storms were devastating for those affected, the events did not technically meet the City’s definition of a disaster.
“For that person, it is a disaster,” he said, “but in the bigger scheme of things, it’s not categorised as a disaster.”
He proposed an ad hoc online meeting with Parks, Urban Mobility, disaster risk management, and other relevant departments to discuss better winter readiness.
Generosity
Ward 81 councillor Ashley Potts praised Park Avenue Hardware in Westridge for donating multiple loads of sand for sandbags during the flooding.
Jansen also recognised Strandfontein NPO Hands and Feet, which used its own funds to help 30 families in informal settlements rebuild their homes after the storm, as well as assisting five families who had lost their homes in a fire weeks earlier.
Road reinstatements a growing concern
Jansen highlighted that there was a significant backlog in road reinstatements following water and sanitation pipe repairs, with some outstanding since 2024. He said he had engaged the mayor and would continue to engage the mayoral committee members for water and sanitation and urban mobility to speed up the work.
Potts highlighted two specific problem areas: Sheikh Yusuf Road and another road that had been closed for close to 1 000 days, as well as a pipe burst at Jupiter and Aquarius that had been creating a growing hole since the first and second of January.
Vandalism at coastal facilities condemned
Christians raised serious concerns about three consecutive break-ins at Mnandi Beach. Jansen linked the problem to Fisherman’s Lane, where street lights had been stolen after a recent upgrade costing several million rands.
Christians said that on Good Friday, criminals broke into the law enforcement building at Fisherman’s Lane, stealing five night-vision binoculars, floodlights, and fishing and safety equipment. He planned on tabling a motion at the next meeting proposing a co-management structure, allowing community organisations to take shared responsibility for city facilities.
“I indicated right at the beginning when they inaugurated Fisherman’s Lane that those braai facilities – it’s like putting something down for babies,” he said. “People are going to vandalise it.”
Almost R300 million is being invested in upgrading Strandfontein Pavilion, and Jansen said it was unacceptable that facilities just down the beach were being repeatedly targeted.
Lane closures and community resistance
Potts raised concern about residents opposing lane closures that had been put in place to address crime. He said police had been called to allow a contractor to continue work, and noted that the project had been motivated by community safety concerns years earlier.
Jansen said he had a site visit planned to engage with residents and stressed that the project had gone through council with full funding.
“It’s unacceptable,” he said.
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