On the Spotlight for this week was one of the youngest GMM Ward Councillors

Ciska Jordaan is one of the youngest Ward Councillors of Govan Mbeki Municipality.

Having grown up in Secunda and attended two years of her high school at Hoërskool Oorsteland, she then moved to Saudi Arabia with her parents and that is where she completed her matric.

She mentioned that her three years of staying in Saudi Arabia taught her to respect other people’s culture and religion.

Jordaan moved back to South Africa and studied Psychology, Philosophy and French at the University of Pretoria.

She also holds a certificate in Education.

When asked how she fell into politics, she said “I started with being an activist for the DA in 2014, just after I graduated from the university and could not find a job.

“While I was trying to figure out what I would do, a friend of mine, the former DA Councillor Pierre Bosch recruited me to participate at the DA activities,” said Jordaan who first became a volunteer before she could be considered for Ward Councillor position.

“The politics of that time was different from what it is now, because I went through many interviews within the party and could not make it,” Jordaan narrated as she remembered what it took for her to finally become a Ward Councillor.

She also helped Bosch to put posters on the lamp poles, handing out flyers and doing door to door visits.

“My first day at the council meeting, as a councillor was sort of petrifying actually.

“I was shocked by the amount of professionalism that one has to maintain there and it reinforced my willingness to participate in politics at the same time.

“The first time I stood up and said something in the council meeting, I said it in a wrong way, the ANC laughed at me and I felt like crying.

“But later that day, I received a phone call from the former MMC of Technical Services, Mr Freddy Nkambule who congratulated me for saying something in a council meeting for the first time,” added Jordaan who further mentioned that she felt proud and saw it in a positive way.

She added that sometimes politicians do laugh as a way of intimidating each other.

Towards the end of 2016, she was appointed a Whip for her party, whereby some of her responsibilities included protecting DA Councillors during the council meetings.

She is currently the Caucus Leader for her party.

Jordaan also highlighted that most of their decisions and what they say in the council meeting is guided by what is happening within the community, such as poor service delivery.

When asked about her views on the current happening in our country, she said “I think people have become desensitized towards poverty, the bad state of education in our country and even something as simple as the garbage that is not being removed in our area.”

Jordaan added that most people do not realize how the decisions taken by few people in the council chamber affect everyone.

Her future aspirations is to continue to serve the people in whatever capacity her party would allow her.

As a newly married woman, Jordaan said her husband decided not to be too much involved in politics, but he is very supportive and he understands that she has to spend more time in meetings, rallies and campaigns.