By Naadiya Adams

As day 1 of tallying South Africa’s local government elections drew to a close, the ANC added Ward 61 to their controlled areas.

Newly elected Naeem Patel is succeeding outgoing councilor Farouk Essop who has been an ANC councilor in the ward for the past 15 years. Now Patel is bringing a new dynamic to the area with a fresh approach to alleviating the problems of the people.

“We had to do a re-count in one of the areas which is an informal settlement in Laudium and last night, about 10 o’ clock it was confirmed,” says Patel.

Patel says he is shifting into gear as he takes on his new role and he set to transform a community with a packed agenda.

“I think the water issue here was a big issue, we have a reservoir here that is built for 35 000 people but its servicing 60 000 people and now and them, 3 or 4 times a year we have water cuts that last anything between 2 and 6 days. The first priority is to see how we can solve this issue even if it means calling on provincial and national government,” said Patel.

He says it was not an easy election. Newcomer ActionSA made tremendous in roads and gave the ANC a run for its money.

“Usually in Laudium, you have the ANC, DA fight for years, this year it got a lot more personal, it became an ANC, ActionSA fight. Previously with the DA obviously it was a lot more easier. All the issue affecting the Muslim community especially with regards to the DA policy etc. This year, Action Sa, a new kid on the block are quite clean in their attempt as they have never been in parliament before so it was much easier for them to sell themselves to the community,” explained Patel.

Patel says its been a hard two and half months but in the end they achieved the result they were looking for.

The newly elected councilor has been a part of the ANC since 1984 when he was a mere 9 years old and says he stayed with the ANC as he understands the need to have the backing of a powerful party to truly bring about change within the community.

“The reason why I stood for the ANC itself, I realised in order for us to make a difference in counsel, you need a powerful organization to back you, and this being local government and for the parties to be part, in order for us to get anything for our community you either have to choose the DA or the ANC as the council in Tshwane,” said Patel.

Patel has served during the Covid pandemic and has played a pivitol role in the community who has now put their faith in him to lead them to a better tomorrow.