A familiar face on the rugby pitch Peter de Villiers is now tackling a new field.
Shortly after he was announced as the Good mayoral candidate for the Drakenstein municipality, the former Springboks coach has been on a campaign trail, criss-crossing the vast Winelands engaging with locals.
“I have seen the inhumane conditions in which people live. They have lost hope and self-respect,” said De Villiers.
And he’s committed himself to changing the “poor” conditions and “restore dignity, a sense of pride and leadership“ to communities.
The Drakenstein municipality describes itself as the largest outside the City of Cape Town in the province and attracts a fair share of the tourism slice.
De Villiers said he entered the mayoral race and politics not because of the “title” but because he wanted to serve people.
“I was a teacher before I became a rugby coach and now I am in politics. One common thread between all these roles is the love and desire to serve people, to see them develop and live fulfilled lives,” said de Villiers.
He said the challenges were so vast - from the poor living conditions in informal settlements, poor service delivery, unemployment, lack of support for small businesses to high water and electricity rates.
Top of the list of what he would want to do for the Drakenstein communities is to provide basic services in a manner that would be affordable.
“The current administration has been boasting about the fact that it has been receiving clean audits for the past financial years. But what does that mean to a person who is not receiving services because they are poor? Do they also not deserve to be treated in a humane way?”
De Villiers said he would also look at how the budget would be used and how the municipality would derive revenue without having to overburden residents.
“Take for instance the issue of high water and electricity tariffs. Is it fair to sit with a lot of money in the bank which I made because poor people had to pay 10 times more for the service? These are real burning issues that need to be addressed and which people have raised with me,” said De Villiers.
The high unemployment rate had also resulted in despair that residents found themselves in, he said, adding that he would look at innovative ways to help create jobs.
“We will support and help develop entrepreneurs, particularly because they can help with the alleviation of unemployment. But we also want people to start taking pride and respect for small businesses,” said de Villiers.
An experience that affected his family while he was growing up left an indelible mark on him and made him have “forward” thinking on life and future generations.
“When my father was in his fifties he had built up what he wanted us to inherit when he died.
“But we were suddenly moved to another area in Paarl where we had to start from scratch. And that is why we need to lay the groundwork for future generations," said de Villiers.
He described himself as a “leader who listens” to people as they also had “the solutions being sought” on several issues.
“Throughout my journey I have learnt to listen to people. This mayoral position will be no different, I will not rebuild the communities alone - they will be part of the work. There are leaders within those communities who are prepared to roll up their sleeves and reimagine their spaces. I will work with them to uplift the communities and improve skills,” he added.
The Winelands’ economy relied to some extent on tourism and De Villiers said under his leadership, the municipality would invest in the sector.
“If tourism can solve the joblessness, we have to invest in it to improve the lives of people. We need to restore hope and dignity,” Dde Villiers said. .
“I am a person of action. I will do what I have to do and I need people to work with me to bring about the change they deserve,” he added.