“In politics, there are no permanent friends and there are no permanent enemies, there are only permanent interests”. This quote has been previously attributed to many different people, however, it does not matter who said it, the meaning stays the same, especially for the highly-contested Ward 33 as it sees friends pitted against each other.
Heather Rorick and Karin Dreyer have always been friends, but their friendship will be highly tested as they battle for the souls of Ward 33 residents in the upcoming Local Government Elections, set to take place on 1 November. Even though they both downplayed the role of their friendship in the elections, the newbies in the political space will not have it easy. The ward, currently managed by the DA Councillor Mmabatho Tembe, will be mainly contested by women. Cllr Tembe said it was unclear whether she will run for the upcoming elections, however, she encouraged the community to vote. Rorick will run under the ticket of African National Congress (ANC), while Karin Dreyer will be running for Active Citizens Coalition (ACC).
Rorick has been well-known in the community for her chairmanship in two community-focused seats of Umbilo SAPS Community Policing Forum and also the Bulwer Urban Regeneration and Safety Forum(BSURF). “I have, for many years, been a community activist, fighting for a better community, for better services for all residents in this community. My work started in the Umbilo area and then spread to other areas across the community. As community activists we just don’t get the back-up needed. I think we all know that in being a community activist one needs to access and work with the municipal ties so that they can access services and implement programmes for the community that they are leading.” She said being a ward councillor means that you are the first citizen in the ward and champion of people’s needs whilst helping them to overcome their challenges. “Being a ward councillor needs someone who has a proven track record in community activism, and who has the residents and the community at heart.
The ANC has proven to be a non-sexist and non-racial organisation which embraces all. I am choosing the ANC because I believe that working together we can do more and people need change in Ward 33, hence the ANC is the alternative that needs to be given an opportunity as they can deliver better services and produce credible results,” added Rorick. She said her strategy is simple. “Regular community consultations in the form of community meetings is a way that I plan to tackle service delivery related issues. There’s more to running and tackling the issues of the ward than to vote on an election day. There are community structures such as the ward committee that people need to be aware of and to participate in as well as sub-committees within the ward committee. There are government programmes which enable departments to come to the people such as Masakhane. There should be a war room in place under the Operation Sukhuma Sakhe, a department which bolsters service delivery as all municipal and provincial departments have representatives and community organisation’s and non-profit organisations (NPOs) as well as non-government organisations (NGOs) are represented in the war room. More community interaction and involvement is needed,” she explained.
Dreyer, who has been a part of the Ward 33 community for 54 years, said she feels that joining ACC was the best decision she could make as the coalition is made up of active citizens who have been working hard to make a difference. “We must remember that this is a local election. Our community comes first and the ACC is also affiliated with eThekwini Secure and eThekwini Outreach which we know has helped communities in many ways already. Lack of service delivery is the major issue in Ward 33 and ACC has started eThekwini joint ratepayersí association with regards to municipal services. It’s time to hold the municipality accountable for the ratepayersí monies. There are also issues of student accommodation, illegal taxi ranks, prostitution and trucking,” said Dreyer.
She said the South Durban Trucking Coalition had a meeting last month with eThekwini and Metro to sort out the challenges the residents are having with trucks in residential suburbs. Dreyer said having worked with both opposition candidates for a period of time, she does not see any issues between them but the challenges that lie ahead. “I have been working with service delivery issues in Glenmore, Carrington Heights, Ward 101 for a while now and I have achieved a lot since I started. I do not class myself as a politician. I just have a better platform now to achieve my goals,” said Dreyer.
