Ward councillor must shape up fast

I would like to respond to the article in The Herald, January 29, page 4: "Illegal dumping on the increase in Helenvale”.

Even though I consider the remarks of Helenvale ward councillor Nico du Plessis as shocking in the extreme, I was also not surprised as it is simply an indication of his mindset towards Helenvale and its people.

For Du Plessis, issues pertaining to Helenvale will always be an opportunity to score political goals.

As the handsomely paid ward councillor for this area, he should be in the forefront of coming up with solutions to combat the serious health risks affecting our people.

In fact, the prevailing problems should be listed as his failures.

Since his election as ward councillor, he never had a community meeting to address serious issues and believe you me, there are many.

It is a travesty that Du Plessis can’t make the distinction that he is the ward councillor for the people of Helenvale and should therefore resolve problems for all – not just DA members.

This very councillor promised the people he will do better than his predecessor, but always finds himself playing the blame game.

He gladly gave away R31 000 of the taxpayer’s money to a church to buy their favour and, indirectly, to buy votes for the DA instead of funding a community cleaning project.

Having the exciting Afcon in Nelson Mandela Bay opened many doors for this metropolitan area.

Du Plessis is claiming easy victories over projects when he has no clue how they started.

Councillor, come up with your own ideas so the community of Helenvale can see what you are made of.

You owe the people of Helenvale a public meeting; it is time to deliver.