Sewage flows into an Eldorado Park street while politicians compete to convince residents they can fix their community. For the DA, the challenge is persuading voters to give the party another chance.
The party is trying to reclaim Ward 18 from the Patriotic Alliance ahead of the November 4 municipal elections. Residents interviewed by IOL described recurring sewage spills, gun violence and difficulty finding work, while rival parties defended their records and promised improvements.
“Every second week we have sewer water running down our street,” resident Sharias Pretorius said.
The contest is part of a wider struggle for support in Johannesburg’s coloured communities, where the PA has challenged the DA’s position. But for residents living with unreliable services, the question is what their elected representatives can change.
The electoral challenge facing the DA
The PA’s position in Ward 18 rests on a substantial previous victory.
IEC figures from the 2021 municipal election recorded 6,584 votes for the PA’s ward candidate, against 1,860 for the DA. That represented 64.58% and 18.24% of valid ward votes respectively, a margin of 4,724 votes.
On the separate proportional representation ballot within Ward 18, the PA received 61.46%, compared with the DA’s 19.35%.
Those results establish the scale of the DA’s challenge. They cannot, on their own, explain why individual voters changed parties or stayed home.
The contest also matters beyond the ward seat. Johannesburg’s electoral system combines ward representation with proportional representation, with party support across the municipality contributing to council seat allocation.
Recovering support in Eldorado Park could strengthen the DA’s overall position. Winning the ward would not, by itself, deliver control of Johannesburg.
A candidate asking for another chance
The DA’s Ward 18 candidate, Fazel Jaffer, has himself moved between the two parties.
A former DA councillor who joined the PA before returning to the DA in 2022, Jaffer said the PA’s focus on coloured communities initially attracted him.
“At that time I was a little bit frustrated. I think I was overworked. I think that the PA at the time was very attractive,” he said.
He said promises to address marginalisation had influenced his decision, but his experience in the party did not meet his expectations.
Jaffer now argues that the DA offers clearer policies and a stronger record of governance.
He acknowledged that residents who followed him to the PA might have felt let down by his subsequent departure.
“All of us realise I think it was a big mistake. We all make mistakes in life. And we are now going to reverse that. Mistakes can be rectified,” he said.
Asked whether the DA could regain the community’s support, he replied: “Absolutely.”
Jaffer pointed to pothole repairs and grass cutting as examples of the party’s efforts to assist residents outside the municipal executive.
“Imagine what we can do when we in government,” he said.
PA defends its community record
The PA, which holds the Ward 18 councillor seat, says residents should judge its representatives on their accessibility and assistance to the community.
Councillor Juwairiya Kaldine, who is seeking re-election, described her approach as community activism.
“We don’t believe that we are politicians, we believe that we are community activists.”
Kaldine identified drugs and substance abuse as major challenges and said rehabilitation was important in addressing them.
She also pointed to residents approaching her for help with food and funeral expenses.
“Why the residents should trust the Patriotic Alliance is because we have proven ourselves,” she said.
Her account places personal assistance at the centre of the PA’s appeal. Residents’ complaints, however, also concern infrastructure and services that require action from municipal departments.
A ward councillor can pursue complaints and hold the administration accountable, but does not independently run those departments.
Sewage complaints outlast promises of repairs
During IOL’s visit, sewage spilled from a manhole into the street, carrying waste and rubbish.
Pretorius said residents had experienced recurring overflows for approximately four to five years. Repairs, he said, brought only temporary relief.
“The challenge that we have is they come, they allegedly fix it. And then it’s fine for a couple of weeks and then after that as you can see it starts all over again.”
The City has previously acknowledged infrastructure problems in the ward.
In July 2023, it announced sewer and water reticulation upgrades, saying digging would begin that month and estimating a completion period of six months or less. Its announcement referred to work across extensions in Ward 18 and affected buildings.
Kaldine attended the project briefing alongside municipal officials and other stakeholders.
The announcement is a record of what the City promised. Establishing whether the street visited by IOL fell within that project, and what work was completed, requires a response from the responsible departments.
For Pretorius, the immediate concern is the sewage outside residents’ homes.
“How can people live in conditions like this? It’s not just ordinary water, it’s sewer water. So it’s a health concern as well,” Pretorius said.
Residents want evidence of improvement
Pretorius said gun violence, substance abuse and problems in schools remained concerns alongside unreliable municipal services.
“The political parties have done nothing to improve the quality of life of the residents of Eldorado Park,” Pretorius said.
“It is a constant battle to get the services delivered to this community.”
Although Pretorius credited the DA with trying to assist, visibility and accountability would influence the decision at the ballot box.
“The people that are actually on the ground and that try and get the necessary services are the people that are going to secure my vote.”
Celeste Kupiro, who said she had lived in Extension 1 for 44 years, described frustration over access to employment.
She said residents had submitted CVs and approached councillors for assistance, while her two daughters were also struggling to find work.
“I have two daughters myself, matriculants. They also can’t get a job,” she said.
Kupiro also raised concerns about gun violence, drugs and housebreaking.
ActionSA seeks frustrated voters
ActionSA’s Ward 18 candidate, Nomathamsanqa Lucky Mkhonza, said residents were uncertain about which party could improve their circumstances.
“One thing I can mention though is that our people are confused. Our people are confused because they feel like they’re out of options,” she said.
Mkhonza questioned whether the DA would necessarily reclaim the ward and urged young people to participate in the election.
She argued that young residents bore the consequences of crime and substance abuse while remaining excluded from decisions about their future.
“We are the victims of drugs. We are the victims of gangsterism. But we are never included when it comes to our future.”
The DA is asking voters to return, the PA is defending its record and ActionSA is seeking support from residents dissatisfied with their options.
Helen Spinnekamp questioned what another election would change while problems remained unresolved.
“All of them just make promises which is empty promises,” she said.
“But they want us to vote. What do we get in return, nothing.”
IOL Politics