Meet Ian Ollis – a servant of the people
RANDBURG – Democratic Alliance's member of parliament and shadow minister of Labour Ian Ollis tells Jeanette Chabalala about his role in Sandton/Alexandra constituency.
The Democratic Alliance’s Member of Parliament Ian Ollis has his career to draw on.
Ollis has been re-elected for the Sandton/Alexandra constituency earlier this year, and he holds the Shadow Labour Minister portfolio.
While he is at the height of his career, his role is to assist residents with issues of national interest, support councillors and train activists and volunteers.
Ollis also oversees different councillors as well as eight DA branches in Gauteng.
During our chat, Ollis explained, “I met the wishes of the community and I got re-elected in this big constituency.
“It is difficult to handle a big constituency such as this, because you have to understand what the residents of each place want.”
Ollis said his passion lies on improving other people’s lives.
Ollis made a point to voice his political position.
“I am a liberal, a democrat and always believe that people should do what they like, as long as it doesn’t harm other people ” he said.
“As a politician I am passionate about improving people’s lives, and again improving service delivery of ordinary people.”
Evidently so, Ollis has made a point of learning more about what people need in different areas.
“I have a vision for each of the areas in my constituency for the next two years – Rosebank, Randburg, Sandton and Alexandra have quite different needs, including service delivery issues, educational and health challenges.
“If I don’t change things then I know I am not doing well – I am in Sandton most of the week, and again I am in Alexandra during the weekend going door-to-door and seeing what people lack,” he said.
Ollis also informed his job is not without challenges, “I am concerned about the Conrad Drive Bridge in Blairgowrie which we have been working on for some years – I also think that the new developments in Rosebank must link with the environment and the City needs to spend effort in revamping the Randburg CBD which is in a state,” he said.
When asked about the state of unemployment in the country, Ollis argued that the problem with the government is that there is a lot of corruption. He adds that the labour law makes it hard for small business to flourish.
