Cape Town - The Kensington/Factreton Residents and Ratepayers Association has called on DA party leader John Steenhuisen to reconsider the current ward 56 councillor and local government election candidate Helen Jacobs.
The association said in the last five years Jacobs had not added a single bit of value within the ward, was weak and incompetent.
The association said since 2016 Jacobs has never been able to give the community a clear indication of what her perceived vision and strategic focus is, while in the ward committee of which she is chairperson.
She was non-existent and or was ineffective.
It accused Jacobs of supporting planning and liquor license applications without community input or notice.
It also accused her of refusing to accept invitations to regularly attend ratepayers executive committee meetings as well as community engagement meetings and ignoring complaints of poor workmanship of contractors in the area.
The association chairperson Leslie Swartz said the community was sad and paralysed with hopelessness that it had to contend for another five years with Jacobs.
He said Ward 56 was presumably a DA stronghold, achieving 89 percent during the 2016 elections, the community deserved better.
“As the association of the community we have always remained apolitical and have worked tirelessly to improve and maintain services in our community.
“In our community quest and struggle for an improved community we have once again witnessed our pursuit for excellence being trumped by politics,” he said.
Jacobs said she had always been working with the ratepayers and had a good working relationship with the association.
She said she learnt by trial and error in the first term and that a lot of projects had been completed, but more needed to be done.
DA provincial chairperson Jaco Londt said he had asked Jacobs to carefully work through the allegations and give a detailed feedback.
Londt said the party’s candidate selection process was a thorough, internal process taking into consideration various factors such as previous experience and qualifications, online assessments, candidate evaluations and interviews.
“The closing date for submission to the IEC has long since passed and no changes can be made now.
“We will also not make any changes unless due process has been followed to give all parties an opportunity to state their side,” he said.
Londt said residents were encouraged to engage constructively with Jacobs and other councillors and were told to escalate matters that had not been resolved.