MIRROR, mirror, at City Hall, who’s the most photogenic of them all?
Well, if you’d asked me that question a few years ago, the answer would have been a no-brainer. Logie Naidoo, the dapper former speaker of the chamber, with his trademark Colgate smile and Brylcreme coiffure, was in a league of his own.
He’s reputed to have posed for more snap shots than the infamous US porn star Stormy Daniels in her heyday, and that takes some doing.
Hogging the social pages every day was not easy. The man worked assiduously at his task, opening up his social diary to journalists and calling to remind them if ever they missed a photo shoot.
Also very much in the picture these days is current deputy mayor Fawzia Peer, who’s fast gaining a reputation for being the poster girl for the eThekwini Municipality.
Her hectic schedule under the lights has apparently been so draining she now takes afternoon naps to recover from flash-photography-induced eye strain.
At one stage, Peer’s face dominated the news and social pages so often many wondered whether her boss, mayor Zandile Gumede, was being subtly airbrushed out of the frame.
Deputy mayor Fawzia Peer with Elliot Twala and Samkeliso Mkhize on the Swapo Road M4 bridge in Durban North.
Well, Gumede has put all that speculation to rest. She’s come back with such a forceful response that even opposition DA councillors are now complaining about her face popping up at every strategic landmark in the city.
“Please, Madam Mayor, we see you on posters, we see you on banners. Must your photo be on all our promotional stuff?” moaned councillor Heinz de Boer.
Gumede was unimpressed, telling her detractors to just get used to seeing her image in their mirrors. “You will live with me. I am putting more and more pictures. At the airport, when you jump off, you will see my face laughing at you,” she snapped back.
Like her or loathe her, you’d better start preparing for your daily dose of the Gumede Galleries every time you drive through the city.
eThekwini municipality deputy mayor Fawzia Peer inspected the babies home on Wednesday morning.
Personally, I don’t give a hoot who’s in the limelight at any given time as long as they succeed in putting Durban on the map again. In fact, I’m prepared to cut a deal with mayor Gumede. If she promises stop those illegal land invasions wreaking havoc in suburbs, take a firm stand against groups disrupting multimillion-rand developments and help create a climate in which all citizens can unite in their diversity to make Durban a winning city again, I will make a pledge in return.
I will call on all civic-minded citizens to tattoo her image somewhere on their anatomy and parade proudly on the promenade every Sunday morning.
With that kind of exposure, surely ratepayers will be spared the burden of paying for her costly banners and billboards?