MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Former Mossel Bay Patriotic Alliance (PA) councillor, Faizell Porter, is going back to his roots by forming a civic association, just before the municipal by-elections for Ward 9.
With Porter as the president, the Our Roots Civic Association established its executive members and adopted its constitution on Wednesday evening, 14 May, at a meeting in D'Almeida.
The new association currently has a fairly small membership, most of which, according to Porter, are former PA members who left the party about the same time he did.
He added that some people who have since joined are former members of other political parties. The executive members include Bernard October as the chairperson, Rochelle Davids as the secretary, Beverly-Joy Jacobus as the deputy secretary and Geoffrey Gordon as the treasurer.
Porter said he left the PA due to fundamental differences, which include differing ideology and principles.
The members of Our Roots. Photo: Chelsea Pieterse
After leaving, he claimed he was contacted by other political parties, asking him to join their ranks, while other former members suggested Porter ran as an individual candidate. Porter said, however, he was not an individualist who would run independently.
He said instead, he felt there was a need for an organisation that focused on local municipal issues, an association that would do away with "the political bureaucracy that is killing the voices of the voiceless".
He maintained: "It is crucial for communities to take charge of their municipalities. This is why we did not establish an ordinary political party, but a civic association that will be the vehicle that will drive the addressing of local inequalities in town."
He said the name, Our Roots, was inspired by Grassroots.
Faizell Porter, the president of Our Roots. Photo: Chelsea Pieterse
According to information on the Digital Innovation South Africa website, Grassroots started "in 1980 as the first of a series of community newspapers designed to give a voice to the 'voiceless' and oppressed peoples of South Africa".
Porter said his civic association would have the right to contest the coming elections, but whether it would or not, was not yet decided.
He said, however, that Our Roots ultimately did wish to be around the table, where "the agenda of the council is being disseminated and discussed and where the decisions are being made".
He noted: "The team we have has been on the ground for the last four years and we are confident the community knows us and knows our work and what we can accomplish together."
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