Meet your councillor: Who is Devin Nieuwenhuisen?
A teacher, team-player, father, son, uncle and brother and now Ward 22s new councillor, Devin Nieuwenhuisen may wear many hats but essentially they all come down to protecting and serving.
Ward 22 welcomes new councillor Devin Nieuwenhuisen of the Democratic Alliance (DA).
Born and raised in Carletonville, the 37-year-old has always been a ‘team player’ considering he was a former professional rugby player.
“I was even selected to play in England,” he said with pride.
Also read: Your ward councillors for the next five years
Due to an injury, Nieuwenhuisen had to refocus what his life plan would be, with his father advising him to study and get a degree. Nieuwenhuisen became a student of the North-West University Potchefstroom campus and later a qualified teacher which was where his passion for people grew.
Also read: Introducing Itumeleng Khambule as DA candidate councillor
“When I started teaching, I was very involved with sport among other things, in Carletonville there were little to no things that the youth could participate in,” he said and stated that he wanted to change that. He further elaborated that till today former learners still look up to him as a father figure.
As time went by, a political party reached out to him to ask whether he would be interested in joining the party because he was such an active member in society by being involved in community based initiatives. This gave him the platform to address the various issues that the school where he was teaching at was facing at the time.
“I could use the platform to have the municipality step in and take charge,” he said.
“As the community was regressing I took it upon myself to contribute more to the community, I applied to be a ward Councillor and in 2016 and I was elected ward councillor in Carletonville, Merafong.”
The move to Mogale City was not just work bound but rather, getting closer to family, as he himself is a family-orientated man.
“Being able to go to your neighbour for sugar and knowing your neighbour, is where I want us to go back to, because no-one can do something individually, it’s difficult in the time we live in,” he explained.
Being newly elected as of December 2 2022, the ward 22 councillor has had to hit the ground running, from getting to know people to building new relations.
“As a councillor of Mogale City, I am ready to lend my support and expertise to the coalition government under the leadership of Mayor Tyrone Gray. We are a diverse team with a strong, young and talented mayor who understands the complexity of local government in South Africa, and I will be on the ground, in communities, in lockstep with my fellow councillors,” he explained.
A teacher, team-player, father, son, uncle, brother and ward councillor Devin Nieuwenhuisen may wear many hats but essentially they all come down to protecting and serving.
