The DA on Thursday announced their candidate for the upcoming by-election in Ward 8, followed by two events where Johann Loots launched his election campaign in Brackenfell.
By means of his public introduction Loots took the opportunity to create awareness and garner support for a petition against Eskom’s proposed 40% electricity hike next year.
After a robot blitz at the Brackenfell Boulevard/Protea Road intersection on Friday, TygerBurger caught up with Loots on Saturday morning where he along with other members of the DA manned a petition table outside Die Vleiswinkel in Kruis Road.
“Amid the rising cost of living, such an increase will make it near impossible for many South-Africans to stay afloat. This hike will force millions to make an impossible choice between food and electricity,” says Loots adding that the DA is fighting this proposal tooth and nail.
The party secured an urgent debate in parliament where they addressed the crisis on Thursday.
“Our aim is to gather as much support as we can from the public by signing the petition that will be tabled in Parliament in the coming weeks,” he says.
Background
Hailing from Strand, Loots, now 24, is now in the process of moving to the ward hoping to represent the community – a long standing DA ward – should he be elected into office in the by-election on 23 October.
He matriculated at Strand High School and studied corporate governance at SA College of Business.
He became interested in politics at a young age when he joined the Ward 83 committee of Strand/Somerset West at the age of 22.
“I enjoyed integrating myself into the community and long had the ambition to became a ward councillor for the City,” he says.
“It is good to know that there are so many dedicated people in Ward 8 who are committed to the community and should I be elected I would want to make sure that the legacy of Ward 8 is upheld and the interests of the residents are taken into account.”
Loots says he is excited about the by-election and ready to take on the challenges in the ward.
“Vagrancy is posing many problems and the infrastructure in the ward is old, both issues I want to tackle,” he says.
Ward 9 of the City encompasses the neighbourhoods of Ferndale, Springbok Park, Protea Heights, Kaapsig and Sonkring in Brackenfell, as well as Soneike in Kuils River and the Kuils River Golf Club.
Keep an eye out for upcoming editions of TygerBurger to read about other candidates standing for the by-election. It has been made public that Carla Lourens-Ferreira is standing for Cape Independence Party (Cape Exit), while TygerBurger is awaiting the IEC’s official list of candidates from other parties.
