COPE announces Ward 2 by-election candidate

COPE has announced Antonie Pieterse as its preferred candidate for the March 6 by-election for Ward 2 in Nelson Mandela Bay.

The seat was left vacant after former DA councillor Dean Biddulph resigned.

Speaking at a press briefing, Pieterse said he felt residents who lived behind Humewood and Humerail were being neglected.

“We believe that all the residents should benefit in what the ward has to offer and not just a select few.”

“I believe that we need to look at all the people [and] don’t just look at Humerail and the Summerstrand areas. We need to pay attention to the back of the area where we have people who are neglected.”

Pieterse said he believed all residents needed to benefit from any money pumped into the ward, adding safety and infrastructure were some of his biggest issues that needed to be addressed.

COPE provincial chair Bishop Lievie Sharpley said the party had chosen Peters as he would take ward forward.

Sharpley said the party had  been deliberate in not being visible to the  media.

“Many people thought that COPE is dead but they are wrong because COPE has been correcting its own mistakes within itself,” he said.

“While we were not visible as far as the press and the media is concerned we were very visible in communities and in the rural areas," Sharpley said.

Sharpley said the party was back in full force.