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FIle: Patriotic Alliance members.
The Patriotic Alliance has unveiled Cheslyn Steenberg as it’s Cape Town Mayoral Candidate for the upcoming local government elections.
Steenberg says their focus for the city will be on rent regulation, equitable housing and land access.
Speaking at the unveiling of his 22-member mayoral campaign committee ahead of the local government elections, Cape Town Councillor, Steenberg says the Patriotic Alliance will compete in all 118 wards of the City of Cape Town.
“It’s not the first time. It is, however, a very good time because the name of the PA now rests in a lot of homes, hearts and in a lot of mouths. So, now, we have a chance of winning the seat. If not, then we can easily become the opposition in the City of Cape Town. We will focus on rent regulation; we will focus on affordable housing and will introduce a policy within the City of Cape Town that deals with that head-on. The other thing that we are going to focus on is to ensure that land is accessible to the people and not to a select group of people and we have seen it in the most recent auction where land was sold to the highest bidder – not under the Patriotic Alliance.”
PA Youth Alliance President Liam Jacobs echoed Steenberg’s need to address inequality in Cape Town.
“In this city, it is a deeply unequal city. In the same city where you can find Germans and Americans – I love them all as well, and they are there having the best time of their lives – and you walk around, left and right and they don’t have to worry about looking over their backs. In the same city, we went to Khayelitsha this time last year December, and we went to look at peoples’ houses under the R144,000 – R176,000 to complete and then we stumbled upon an oupa. This oupa was in his 70s and lives in a house that did not have electricity and water and he did not have a toilet. If the neighbours around him were not willing to open their doors, this man had to walk, rain or shine, to a spot that is hundreds of metres away. Imagine your grandfather, your grandmother, having to walk hundreds of metres rain or shine, in the middle of the night, just to use the toilet. These two realities live in the same city. But, I want to show you ‘the PA difference’. I want to applaud what Councillor Kayi has done. That man now has a toilet.”
Steenberg says his 22-member mayoral campaign team made up of individuals across gender, race and religious lines will be key in helping him realise his mayoral manifesto, to be launched ahead of this year’s local government elections.
