OPINION: The future of Randfontein is in your hands

• Tanya Venter writes:

Do you remember what it was like to run barefoot down your street to meet your friends and play? The pride you felt in how your street looked, the clothes you wore and what your front yard represented? Do you remember your parents always telling you to be careful of strangers, never to accept anything from them, and never to get into a car with someone you didn’t know? Remember when visitors came over and you couldn’t wait to show them your room because you were proud of where you lived?

Yes, those were great memories, weren’t they?

Today, when you look at our town, what do you feel? Despondency? Shame? Disgust? Hurt? Betrayal? Anxiety? Despair?

This is how you start fixing it.

Look at your street and decide how you want to see it. Think back over the last 10 years. What has changed? Service delivery is probably the first thing that comes to mind, right?
Look at the value of your home. How long have you lived there? Is the municipal area surrounding your home properly maintained? If not, how long has it been that way?
When visitors come to your home, are you proud to show them your town? Do people ask, “How can you live here?” or comment, “Wow, the smell is terrible.” When did that become the norm?

November 4, 2026, is now less than six months away.

When you decide to vote, try to remember what your current ward councillor looks like and whether you have ever actually met them. Try to remember the last time you saw him or her walking through the streets without a pamphlet in hand, personally overseeing a problem being resolved. Not in a video shared on a WhatsApp group, but physically on the ground doing the work.

Try to remember the last public meeting where the municipality provided feedback on a project in your area, gave residents a timeframe and cost, offered reassurance, and where you genuinely believed the project would be completed.

If you can, try to remember the last time Randfontein made the newspaper headlines for a project that did not become a white elephant, and was not linked to violence or drugs.

Now, take a close look at the people running your municipality. Examine their track record. Did they deliver on the manifesto they presented four to eight years ago? Did they genuinely improve your community? Do you have running water? An uninterrupted electricity supply? Safe, drivable roads? Well-maintained public spaces, parks and pavements? Do you feel safe?

Then consider any new political party entering your town. Where else have they governed or worked? Is there evidence of success? If so, how long did that success last?

If your answer to any of the questions above is negative and leaves you feeling frustrated or anxious, then base your vote on how you believe your town can be fixed.

Don’t be swayed by free bread, eggs, T-shirts, pamphlets or promises that cannot be acted upon. Don’t be influenced by religious affiliation, liberation struggles or associations with former presidents.

Instead, be guided by your constitutional rights, by what a liveable town should look like, and by the kind of meaningful change that is based on careful consideration rather than emotion or immediate self-gratification. And don’t let your vote be influenced by friendships that require you to pay a fee before you see any difference.