Delays in being sworn in as Nelson Mandela Bay councillors did not stop PA members Gavin Jonas and Alvera Hendricks from rolling up their sleeves to tackle service delivery issues in their communities
On Monday, they were sworn in as PR councillors, taking over from Bradley Murray and Shuling Lindoor who resigned in December after a reshuffle within the party.
The PA carried out a nationwide reshuffle to replace senior councillors in municipalities to focus on growing the party before the 2026 local government elections.
Murray has since been appointed the Bay’s regional chair and is the party’s mayoral candidate for 2026.
Lindoor will take up a political post focusing on music- and arts-related projects in the province.
Jonas and Hendricks were sworn in by acting city manager Sidima Dyani at the City Hall.
Despite the swearing-in being postponed twice in December, Hendricks said they had already been working with the city manager’s office since their confirmation with the IEC on December 9.
“We were supposed to be sworn in on December 23, but that was delayed to December 24 and it was again postponed to today,” Hendricks said.
“We have been in contact with the city manager and in December we managed to intervene in a situation where people did not have electricity for over three days and that was quickly sorted.”
Hendricks, 34, who has been a PA member for three years, said she would focus on service delivery challenges in Kariega, where she lived.
“In 2024, we had two floods in Kariega and since then only one road and bridge have been fixed and people are still waiting for answers,” she said.
“Unemployment is a big problem in the city.
“We know there are EPWP jobs, yet we never see them getting [advertised], so as the PA we have to fight to ensure that the youth in our community are not being left behind.”
Jonas, who will lead the party’s caucus, has been redeployed from parliament, where he was sworn in after the 2024 national election.
“We believe in the line of march our president gives us because we know there is something greater than that,” he said.
“I asked the president to redeploy me to the Eastern Cape.
“He agreed and has appointed me as a PR councillor which I am happy about.”
The 56-year-old has been a PA member since 2021.
“Our people need jobs, service delivery, there are social ills in our communities and I want to make a difference just like our previous councillors who did exceptional jobs when they were MMCs [members of the mayoral committee],” he said.
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