Johannesburg - Former City of Joburg councillor and now new mayor of Beaufort West, Ashley Sauls, said he was willing to go wherever his party, the Patriotic Alliance (PA), deployed him.
Sauls’s new appointment in the Western Cape has sparked some controversy, with members of opposition parties expressing their displeasure at a former Joburg councillor leading a Western Cape municipality.
But Sauls said he was humbled by his new appointment and was ready to hit the ground running in Beaufort West after serving as MMC for Health and Social Development in Joburg. Sauls is originally from Eldorado Park, where he has been a community leader for years.
“It’s a surprise that we are more pro-open borders for illegal immigrants than what we are as citizens serving anywhere in this country. There are no boundaries for us to serve; whether I serve in Joburg or in Beaufort, KwaZulu-Natal, the point is I should be serving my country that is what the PA is about and as such I am a patriot I love my country. If my party deploys me anywhere in South Africa, I should be willing to go. I never thought we would justify working in a different part of the country,” he said.
Sauls said he already had a vision in place for improving the lives of Beaufort West residents; he placed emphasis on basic service delivery, job creation and energy security.
“I am excited to serve the residents of Beaufort West. In the PA, our core is to serve, to serve with excellence, and to deliver with clear time frames, and it’s all about action; it’s about doing and not speaking. I am excited to start working and to make the lives of the most vulnerable better.”
In Joburg, Sauls was known for being proactive as an MMC, visiting clinics and other facilities to ensure that service delivery was taking place. He said he would bring the same vigour and energy to his new role.
“I want to make it very clear to the community that I can’t but we can; it’s a motto that I live by. It’s not necessarily the changes that I will bring, but how I will facilitate changes that have already been brought; mine is not to start anything but to sustain what has been started, to water and grow what has already been planted,” he said.
Sauls said he would miss the people of Eldos, Soweto and Klipspruit West, but he was embracing his new challenge with open arms. He was famous in the Joburg Municipal Council for his phrase, “Moenie Baiza nie”.
The Star