President Cyril Ramaphosa. (Photo by Mlungisi Louw/Volksblad/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
On 29 September, when President Cyril Ramaphosa was asked by journalists how his household deals with Eskom electricity cuts, he deflected to a generic answer, “We manage and deal with power cuts in different types of ways.”
The president does not have power cuts in his Hyde Park home; the entire block of houses is said to have never experienced power cuts, according to Ramaphosa’s ward 90 councillor, Democratic Alliance member Martin Williams.
“I would assume we can’t have the first citizen of the nation going without power. The people living in his street can all afford their own generators and solar power but they don’t need to because their power never goes out. I’m not saying we should deny him that,” he says.
Williams, whose ward 90 is also home to Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, says although he has never met Ramaphosa in his capacity as ward councillor, he was called to a meeting with the presidential security personnel. It was there that Williams, together with members of the community policing forum, the police and city officials, heard that Ramaphosa wished to forgo the state residence in Pretoria and rather live in his Hyde Park home.
In the rest of Hyde Park, blackouts are the biggest issue for residents. Williams places the sole responsibility for this problem at the feet of the ANC.
“This is an ANC-run city. Ward councillors don’t run the city. If the roads and electricity is not good enough and all of that isn’t happening, it’s because of the ANC. The members of parliament and upwards don’t actually deliver anything. They want people to come to us [ward councillors] but we don’t have any executive authority,” he said.
Williams’ biggest problem is the city’s communication system, which he says has frustrated residents.
“Electricity goes out and we have to scratch and push and try to just get basic information that people want … We get radio silence. Communication is important. It’s the life blood of any organisation and the city really sucks at communicating. Service delivery requires communication,” he says.
Williams won ward 90 in 2016 when the DA received a clear majority of 82% votes as against the ANC’s 11%.
Although ward 90 has few service delivery problems, unlike poorer areas in South Africa’s municipalities, the DA councillor believes that his job has equal importance to that of any ward councillor.
“From my point of view, as a ward councillor, everyone is entitled to the same level of service. If you pay more rates than the next guy, because of where your property is located, it doesn’t mean you are entitled to better service.”
He adds that there is an expectation among affluent people that “somehow they are better than others”.
In some cases, residents in the well-to-do suburb do not even log a fault with the municipality because they expect that services will be delivered speedily, he said.
“There are those huge expectations but I’m comfortable dealing with that. I treat everybody with respect. The poorest and richest get to be treated with the same respect. I don’t bow down to people because they earn 10 times more than I do,” he says.
Motivating for Ramaphosa to vote for him next week for another term as his ward councillor, Williams said his track record speaks for itself.
“If he wants service delivery, he must vote for me. I have a good relationship with all the officials. It takes years to build up relationships with all the people the councillor has to deal with,” he says. “There isn’t anybody in the ANC in the ward who knows how to get those things done. I really like to get things done.”
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