Durban - The newly-elected leader of the Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape, Bonginkosi Madikizela, has a special bond with the suburb of Chatsworth.
Last month, Madikizela, who was born in Port Shepstone, was elected leader and Anton Bredel provincial chairperson.
Speaking to POST, the 42-year-old said a visit to Durban would not be complete without a pit-stop in Chatsworth - where the community had helped mould his success.
“In 1990 I witnessed my brother being murdered during some violence at home and I moved to Chatsworth at the age of 15,” he said.
“My sister and I heard about this place called Welbedacht, so we checked it out and got our place. It was terrible and the people had nothing.
“I got in contact with a community leader and we formed the Welbedacht Development Forum. We built homes for other families with the little money we could collect.”
Madikizela had dropped out of Asoka Secondary School in 1991 and ended up working at a shoe factory shop in Croftdene as a general worker earning R50 a week.
At weekends, and in his spare time, he played soccer with a mixed bag of friends at Road 901 in Moorton.
“I was close to my Indian mates, Ricky, Larry, and especially Richard. I would stay at Richard’s home and his mom would make breyani. She knew I loved her breyani and she still makes it for me when I visit.”
The bond he had formed in the community, he said, helped him understand the Indian culture.
“Even they learnt more about me and my culture. People should expose themselves to other race groups and learn about them. It helps promote social cohesion.”
In 1998, Madikizela left Welbedacht and moved to live with his brother in Cape Town.
With the help of his brother, he enrolled at a computer school and later began studying human resource management at Unisa.
To make ends meet, he worked as a car guard at a theme park.
A year later, he moved back to Chatsworth and completed an information technology course.
He had by then become a member of the Chatsworth Child Welfare organisation.
In 2002, Madikizela returned to Cape Town and continued his involvement in politics.
He joined the ANC Youth League in Khayletisha and three years later, joined the ANC as a member until he and several other councillors were expelled from the party in 2006.
Madikizela then declared he would contest the local government elections as an independent candidate.
He was unsuccessful, so he moved to the United Democratic Movement in 2007 and was elected Cape Town’s Metro regional secretary. He then served as a communication officer for the city.
In 2008 he joined the DA and was appointed housing MEC.
Madikizela said his first week in office was exciting, but a lot of hard work lies ahead.
“I have already started working toward key projects and looking at the most vulnerable areas in the province. It is my duty to strengthen our support structures - like our youth league and the women’s network.
“I will also go out to communities and introduce myself to the people and discuss some of the challenges they are faced with - and a solution.”
Apart from being the leader of the party in the Western Cape, Madikizela is still the MEC for Human Settlements.