The Democratic Alliance in eThekwini has retained Ward 10 with a 95% victory at a by-election held on Wednesday, 2 November. Prior to the by-election, Councillor Caelee Laing had been the caretaker for the ward after the death of former councillor, Terence Collins. Councillor Laing said that she was absolutely blown away by the support she received from the residents of Ward 10.
“I am grateful for the support I got from my incredible colleagues in eThekwini and the province. By-elections are not won by popularity of an individual, they are won through hard work, strong teamwork and a culmination of efforts of multiple dedicated people. This has been an incredibly challenging four months for our DA family. We lost our West Durban father and my mentor, Tex Collins, and I was asked to be the caretaker for the ward until the by-election so it has been an incredibly busy time for our team. A huge thank you to Martin Meyer for running the ward 10 campaign and leading the west Durban team through an incredibly challenging and busy couple of months. Thank you to all those who came out to vote and to the by-election team who worked together to keep Ward 10 DA. I’m very proud to be following in the footsteps of Cllr Tex Collins and I look forward to working with the ward 10 community going forward,” said Laing.
She said that she applied for the candidacy following her colleague’s passing in August. “It has been a few months of meeting with residents and role-players, officials, compiling of issues in the area and picking up the process of having outstanding matters attended to. I am excited to keep working with those residents to address these concerns and assist as far as possible in the ward,” added Cllr Laing DA KZN leader, Francois Rodgers congratulated Cllr Laing and wished her success on the journey ahead. “The DA in KZN is thrilled to announce that we have retained ward 10 in eThekwini Municipality by a massively increased margin, taking 94.8% of the vote, up from 80.1% in 2021, an incredible increase. Each of the nine voting stations showed a marked increase in support for the DA. This in line with a continuing trend of increasing support for the DA, and dwindling support for other parties. We are humbled by the trust that residents of this ward continue to have in the DA. We will continue fighting for reliable service delivery in council and ensuring that residents complaints are attended to,” said Rodgers. Contact Councillor Caelee Laing on 082 891 2108.
