Newly elected Sub-council 16 chairperson, Matthew Kempthorne, said it was an honour for him to be elected in the heart of the metro.
Sub-council 16 includes wards 54, 57, 74, 77,115 and stretches from Cape Town’s CBD area, through Sea Point, Table Mountain, Camps Bay, and ends in Hout Bay.
Born and bred in Cape Town, Mr Kempthorne spent two years at UCT before moving to Johannesburg for six years. He had owned a small manufacturing business before sold it and moved back to Cape Town in 2009.
He got involved in the 2009 elections when Helen Zille was elected Premier and he was elected to council in 2011 as the councillor for Ward 58.
“I was re-elected as a PR Councillor in 2016. In my first term I also served as the chairperson of the energy and climate change portfolio and before been elected as sub-council chair, was the portfolio chair for utilities and energy services.”
He said Sub-council 16 comprises one of the most important parts of the city. “I intend to keep up the excellent standards of service and will be looking at strategic interventions to improve services. Some of the issues I would like to investigate are traffic congestion, affordable housing, and the balance between residents and the thousands of business commuters and tourists.”
Mr Kempthorne said some of the other key issues he would be focusing are, security, sustainability and smart living, re-cycling and the protection of the unique environment within the sub-council’s boundaries.
“It is an honour and a pleasure to serve the residents. I have lived in the sub-council for most of my adult life, and look forward to making a great city even greater.
“Cape Town and other cities around the world are increasingly the leaders in economic development and innovation and are the drivers behind many issues from climate change and global warming mitigation and adaptation to new developments in social change as well as new ways of doing business in the knowledge based economy.
“While national governments are stuck at the level of discussions and endless policies, cities are where the change is happening. My goal is that over the next 20 years Cape Town will be one of the foremost global cities, with a dynamic economy, an enhanced natural environment and the social network that leaves no one behind especially the most venerable among us.”
