Khayelitsha Development Forum (KDF) is a people’s entity and we are doing what is required by the community, these are the remarks by the acting KDF chair Monde Nqulwana.
Nqulwana took over KDF reigns more than two weeks ago, following the resignation of Ndithini Tyhido on Sunday 24 March. (“Nqulwana takes over KDF reigns,” City Vision, 28 March).
The former Ward 89 councillor was elected in a special meeting convened by the KDF committee members and ward development forum chairs at the Khayelitsha Training Centre on Monday 25 March.
Nqulwana said KDF welcomed any developments that would improve the lives of the people of Khayelitsha.
He described it as an honour for him to once again, serve the community of Khayelitsha and vowed to do his best for the people.
“I was not surprised by my election. I’ve seen it coming. When we had a conference in May last year to elect this current leadership, I was approached to stand by other members as a chairperson, but I declined.
“I wasn’t ready at that time. But now, I’m ready,” said Nqulwana.
He identified high crime rate, unemployment, ageing infrastructure and development in general as some of the major problems in the community. He praised his predecessor for leaving behind huge shoes to fill.
However, he stated that everything is possible when all the different stakeholders work together. “One of the things that we need to do is to rebuild our relationship with the community. We need to make KDF a beacon of hope for our people. We want them to trust us,” said Nqulwana.
He cautioned against the growing informal settlements, saying they hindered development in the area. “We have more than 10 informal settlements that were established during the Covid-19 period in Khayelitsha. Some of them are established in already serviced areas. Now we have a mammoth burden to remove them to other areas for the development to continue,” he stated.
Nqulwana said the doors are open for the investors to plough in Khayelitsha.
