The local government elections on Wednesday August 3 sure won’t be boring if the run-up to them is anything to go by.
There are the ANC and DA smear campaigns, and then there is former DA councillor Marissa Jansen van Vuuren (or is it Mariesa Lombard?) who was kicked out of office and the party for misconduct in 2014 and is now running as an independent candidate to reclaim Ward 23.
The fact that Tabletalk had such a hard time tracking her down (although we did eventually, and as fate would have it, she is even advertising in this edition on page 7) is also peculiar as ward councillors are supposed to be a call away to serve their community.
However, as current Ward 23 councillor Nora Grose pointed out, it is Ms Jansen van Vuuren’s democratic right to stand as an independent candidate. And who knows? Perhaps not being tied to a political party may give her the edge she needs to tackle community issues head on, without having to sing from a hymn sheet handed to her by political party bosses unfamiliar with the unique challenges facing the ward.