He made headlines a week ago when he withdrew his availability as a councillor candidate for the Ward 2 by-elections and then retracted.
Oliver Copley said he was ready to serve the ANC in any way he could. The Ward 2 by-election will be next Wednesday, March 6.
Copley who lives in Humewood, said he had been introduced to ANC politics in 2015 and formed part of former mayor Danny Jordaan’s election campaign for the 2016 municipal elections.
“It was a very gentle introduction into politics and I got to see how it worked from the ground level all the way to the regional leadership,” he said. “That was really the first time I was active as an activist and since then the ANC has really stuck with me.
“It says in the ANC’s constitution that SA belongs to all who live in it.
“I really feel the ANC has stayed true to that value as best as it can and I believe the ANC is the vehicle through which that can be achieved.”
The position of councillor became vacant after former DA ward councillor Dean Biddulph resigned.
Should he be the next councillor, Copley said, he would look at getting preferential rates, specifically for restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts and hotels in the area so they could provide a better service and also either employ more staff or pay existing staff better.
“I’d like to see what I can do about the municipality deploying more security guards along the promenade so that when people visit us here they have a good and safe time and always want to come back.
“Student accommodation is also an issue, so I’d love to speak to community members, developers, the MBDA and whoever I can find to get a solution to that.”
He also touched on safety for residents.
“We have a lot of vulnerable people in our ward. “We’ve got old people, homeless and orphans who also need to be protected.”
ANC regional spokesperson JP Pretorius said with Copley as their candidate, the ANC would win the ward.