Mbombela clean-up: May may mow his way into politics

A Freedom Front Plus member, Liam Richard May, has social media in the Lowveld abuzz after his recent clean-up endeavours in the Steiltes and West Acres areas. 

This 22-year-old describes himself as a patriotic conservative and hopes to represent the Freedom Front Plus as a Mbombela councillor after the next municipal elections.

1. How long have you been in the Lowveld?
I have been living in the Lowveld since early 2019. I’m originally from a small town called Darling, just an hour away from Cape Town.

2. Would you say you are a proud Lowvelder? 
Yes. My family has a bit of history in the area, but besides that, I just absolutely love the beauty of the Lowveld. There is nothing quite like it anywhere else.

3. What made you start this initiative?
After seeing the failure of the municipality and ward councillors to serve the community, I decided to take things into my own hands. I like my neighbourhood to be clean and tidy.

4. Do you think this do-it-yourself approach is something that every citizen needs to adopt? 
Yes. Unfortunately, due to mismanagement of government and the global pandemic, we are in an economic crisis. 
These days you will find that the municipality will have more and more excuses not do their jobs. 

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5. You started a group for people who want to join in the cleaning. How is this going?
There are quite a few people who have joined and there are people directly contacting me every day to get involved. There are already about 50 people who are keen to help. I hope to inspire as many people as possible to follow in my footsteps and clean up our country.

6. What are the places that you have tackled, and what is still on the list?
So far, I’ve cleaned a few parks in Steiltes and West Acres. 
In the past week, I saw two problem areas in West Acres that residents complained about, notably the pavement at the entrance of Kingfisher Complex as well as the park around the post boxes on Belladonna Street.

7. Where did the equipment you use come from? Is it yours, or have people assisted you?
I borrowed the equipment from a friend. So far, I have been doing these clean-ups on my own; however, one of my friends assisted me on one occasion in Steiltes. 

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8. In a statement you made on Facebook you said, “If I win this election I guarantee that Ward 17 will be the cleanest ward in the city. Even if I have to go clean up by myself as I already have.” Should voters believe you?
When I say I’m going to do something, I do it. We believe in setting an example for the municipality. Obviously we know that this is the municipality’s responsibility, but I want to be able to assist. 

What we have done in other parts of the province, on a very small scale, is to start small initiatives and then ask the municipality to assist us further, because we actually do not have the resources or the time to do their work. Often enough they heed our call and step up, which is great for everyone. 

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9. Do you think you are ready for all the challenges and tasks with which a councillor deals daily?
Yes, I do. I need a lot of training, but we have a lot of support from our structures that guide us to become better public representatives. 

10. Do you consider yourself a full-time politician, or do you have another occupation?
At the moment I am not a full-time politician; I hope to be one after the next election. I currently work in the agricultural industry selling irrigation automation and agronomic technologies. 
I also recently started my own marketing company. I work hard, but there is always time to make people feel proud of their surroundings.