'Let's clean house,' plus five talking points from ‘Vrye Weekblad’
Here’s what’s hot in the latest edition of the Afrikaans digital weekly
Ruben Richards has worn many hats in his lifetime.
He was an academic, writer, executive secretary for the TRC, senior member of the Scorpions, businessman and more recently a farmer in the Olifants Valley in the Western Cape.
If someone of his stature is willing to stand as an independent candidate in the municipal elections, then you know the frustration on the ground is far more than just rhetoric.
Like many others, he says it is time to get away from petty party politics and ideology and to focus on service delivery and restoring people's dignity.
That is how he became the chief of Cederberg First, a Section 15 organisation that has a candidate in each of the six wards of the Cederberg district in the upcoming municipal elections.
“We are all just residents and that is what brings us together. And what residents want is not massively complicated. They want safety, they want jobs, they want clean streets, they want clean water and that's it. So let's try it. Let's take control of our place and clean our house,” he says.
“For me, it is really simple. Clean water. Clean streets. Clean administration. It has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with service delivery. They are not difficult things. Gather the trash, make sure the water is clean and that sewerage is processed. Hello? Is that so difficult?”
Read more on Richards's work, and more news, analysis and interviews in this Friday's edition of Vrye Weekblad.