With the 2026 local government elections approaching, Ward 112 residents can get to know the candidates vying to represent their community. Meet the candidates, learn more about their priorities and find out what they hope to achieve if elected as ward councillor.

All candidates were invited to submit responses to questions. The responses published below are included here. This article will be updated as further candidates submit their responses.

Ward 90 suburbs include:

Blue Hills, Carlswald, Carlswald North, Country View, Erand, Erand Gardens, Grand Central, Halfway House, Halfway Gardens, Headway Hills, Midridge Park, Noordwyk, President Park AH, Sagewood, Savannah Hills, Summerset, Summerset Estate, Summerset View, White Hills and Witbos.

Democratic Alliance Ward 112 candidate Komani Dhlamini

1. In one sentence, who are you?
   I am Komani Dhlamini, a seasoned DA activist, legal professional, community leader and 2024 Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South African, with years of experience serving communities, working alongside councillors and tackling complex challenges head-on.
   
2. What are the biggest issues facing your ward currently?
   Ward 112 is an incredibly diverse community, from the estates of Carlswald and the complexes and apartments of Noordwyk, to freestanding homes and the equestrian properties around Sun Valley, as well as its churches and businesses. Despite that diversity, the issues residents raise are remarkably consistent: basic service delivery. Refuse collection, constant water outages and streetlights that simply do not work are among the recurring concerns.
   
3. What practical solutions would you prioritise?
   I want to get Ward 112 back to basics: water, roads, refuse and electricity. Escalating issues should be second nature to a councillor, and I have extensive experience doing exactly that. My residents should not doubt that I will pursue issues relentlessly until they receive the attention they deserve. I want to build an active, informed and connected Ward 112 community that understands how the city works, what a councillor can and cannot do, and how residents can hold service providers accountable. My ambition is to build one Ward 112 family, where a resident in Noordwyk feels as connected to a resident in Carlswald or Sun Valley as they do to their own street, and where residents support one another as much as they expect support from government. When I am in Council, residents should know that I am there fighting for Ward 112.
   
4. What is one misconception about you or your party that you would clarify?
   A major misconception about the DA is that our work only begins when an election approaches. Our work never stops. Throughout the year, DA councillors, activists and structures are involved in community programmes, campaigns, workshops, service-delivery interventions and a range of work that often happens without much public attention. Elections naturally bring greater visibility and are highly contested periods, but they do not define the work we do. For me, public service is not something that should switch on when posters go up and switch off when the votes are counted.
   
5. If your party’s candidate becomes mayor, what should they address first?
   When Helen Zille is named mayor of Johannesburg, I believe there are three immediate priorities. First, we must get back to basics and restore reliable service delivery. Water, electricity, roads, refuse collection, and functioning infrastructure are the backbone of any successful city. Second, we need to understand that reliable service delivery is an economic strategy. If a suburb has reliable services, people want to live there, schools and healthcare facilities want to establish themselves there, and businesses want to invest. Third, we have to confront Johannesburg’s financial and administrative dysfunction, from wasteful spending and corruption to procurement delays, slow infrastructure repairs and an administration that too often struggles to respond.
   
   

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Economic Redress Movement Ward 112 candidate Thabiso Telekoa

1. In one sentence, who are you?
   I am Thabiso Telekoa, a resident of Midrand for 16 years and a former EFF PR councillor in the City of Joburg representing Ward 112.
   
2. What are the biggest issues facing your ward currently?
   Informal settlements are mushrooming everywhere in the area, illegal street vendors, a lack of recreational facilities or halls, and Joburg Water issues due to ailing infrastructure.
   
3. What practical solutions would you prioritise?
   Prioritise budget to include installation of new water infrastructure, hold the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department accountable regarding illegal hawking, and put forward a motion for a multipurpose centre.
   
4. What is one misconception about you or your party that you would clarify?
   That I never spoke about prioritising South Africans first when I was in the EFF, which I did. Taking care of your child first is natural; it doesn’t mean you hate your neighbour’s child. You will extend your help when you are done with your house.
   
5. If your party’s candidate becomes mayor, what should they address first?
   Safety: South Africa is facing severe safety challenges in Johannesburg and elsewhere. Crime is an issue in the Joburg CBD, Mitchells Plain, Kempton Park and Gqeberha. Joburg must be the first city to be safe.
   

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Bonginkosi Nhlapo, Ward 112, independent candidate

1. In one sentence, who are you?
   Bonginkosi Nhlapo. Resident in Ward 112. Bought the property in 1995.
   
2. What are the biggest issues facing your ward currently?
   Lawlessness. People are building backrooms without plan approval and renting them out, turning our neighbourhood into a slum. Drug dealers are everywhere. Some pretend to sell sweets and snacks when their main business is drugs. Drugs in hair salons and nightclubs. Illegal taxi ranks at every corner. Food trailers in every corner. Littering from spaza shops, vegetable vendors, taxi ranks, food trailers, and irresponsible residents who dump their garden and building refuse everywhere. Squatters, campers, and recyclers all over the place. Illegal immigrants living in these squatter camps are damaging the infrastructure, stripping traffic lights, drawing water from fire hydrants, and cooking with open flames.
   
3. What practical solutions would you prioritise should you be named councillor of your ward?
   Restore law and order. Work with SAPS, Metro Police, CPF, security companies, and the immigration department to clear the informal settlements. Follow up on the cases regarding the court orders for the removal/shut down of the informal settlements. Reclaim our suburb from slum lords and clean up our pavements. Get RDP budgets to fix our neighbourhood.
   
4. What is one misconception about you or your party that you would clarify?
   None
   
5. Should your party’s candidate be named mayor, what issue should they address first?
   If I were mayor, I would fire all municipal employees who sign in, disappear all day, and then resurface just before knock-off time. Build internal capacity and reduce the overreliance on tenders. Hire a competent workforce and do away with the deployment of political party activists, relatives, friends, and partners. Reclaim hijacked buildings.

Lebogang Shovhote, Patriotic Alliance, Ward 112

1. In one sentence, who are you?
   My name is Lebogang Shovhote, Patriotic Alliance’s Ward 112 councillor candidate and regional treasurer of the Women Alliance, also a founding member and former secretary of the Progressive Forces of South Africa and co-founder of Clean-Up Midrand.
   
2. What are the biggest issues facing your ward currently?
   Lack of relationship between stakeholders and the community at large. No community meetings have been held for the past five years. Constant development at a rapid pace, while the current infrastructure cannot keep up with the pace. Slow turnaround time in attending to service delivery issues. IDPs have not been implemented. No environment has been created for small businesses to thrive. No recreational facilities, especially for youth and elderly people. Crime rate is increasing. Noordwyk Primary School staff and learners have been schooling in containers for over a decade. Littering and illegal dumping sites are emerging. By-laws are not enforced on a consistent basis.
   
3. What practical solutions would you prioritise should you be named councillor of your ward?
   Meet with relevant stakeholders in all spheres of our community. After the ward committees have been elected, hold a community meeting. Along with all stakeholders, formulate a 90-day plan. Challenges are many; we need to prioritise which challenge to tackle first. Community members are the main stakeholders and should remain central in all of this.
   
4. What is one misconception about you or your party that you would clarify?
   Get to know us – myself and the Patriotic Alliance. We do not have control over how we are perceived, but as long as we can all agree that we are serving our community in excellence, then all is well.
   
5. Should your party’s candidate be named mayor, what issue should they address first?
   Put residents first. Depoliticise service delivery. Serving our communities should not be a favour but a lifestyle.

Other candidates are encouraged to email the editor, Ashtyn Mackenzie, at ashtynm@caxton.co.za.