Page 15 - Dainfern Precinct Living Issue 3 2025

“ This isn’t about playing hero. It’s about

keeping people informed, holding the system
accountable, and showing up — every time “

His experience in senior corporate roles connected to the channels that actually get
before politics helps him manage the things done — or at least started.”
process. He speaks the language of delivery,
systems, and timelines — even when those Less Talk, More Work
systems don’t work. And he’s built solid If Foley sounds pragmatic, it’s because he
working relationships inside departments has to be. Local politics isn’t about sweeping
like City Power, Joburg Water, City Parks, vision statements — it’s about the water
Eskom, the Johannesburg Roads Agency pressure in your street and the traffic light
(JRA), and other City of Joburg departments that’s been out for two weeks. It’s about
to try to move things along faster. giving people back a sense of control, even
when the system feels broken.
DEVELOPMENT VS. DELIVERY And it’s about being there, especially when
One of the paradoxes of Ward 94 is that things fall apart.
NO ILLUSIONS it continues to grow — Beverley and the
“The job is not what people think,” Foley Witkoppen corridor being a prime example — “There’s no script,” he says. “You learn as
says, plainly. “I don’t have executive power. but basic service delivery still lags. you go. You adapt. You keep showing up.”
I can’t just make a call and fix a road or get Foley sees the problem clearly: “There’s a
your bins collected. What I can do is push disconnect between development approvals THE MAN BEHIND THE
— hard — through the system, and keep and the real-time capacity of infrastructure. COUNCILLOR
residents informed.” You can’t just build new homes and assume Outside the official brief, Foley is a husband,
the city’s systems will scale automatically. a father, and someone who’s chosen to stay
It’s not glamorous work. Most days are They don’t.” in the same home for over two decades — by
filled with navigating service departments, choice, not default. He speaks often about
chasing up escalations, and trying to get He spends time advocating for better the importance of community, not just in
attention on yet another burst pipe, power alignment — between planning, policy, but in lived experience: knowing your
outage, or crumbling curb. Sometimes the infrastructure, and political will. But it’s slow neighbours, supporting local schools, and
wins are small. Sometimes they don’t come going. For residents, that can feel like more being part of something real.
at all. of the same.
He didn’t grow up imagining he’d be
But Foley shows up. He responds. And over A COMMUNITY THAT PULLS in politics. In fact, much of his career
time, that consistency has built something TOGETHER was spent in corporate operations and
that matters in a ward as diverse and Still, there’s resilience here. Many estates management — a background that now
dynamic as this: trust. have taken service and security into their shapes how he runs his ward office: like
own hands, forming associations, funding a tight, well-documented operation with
BRIDGING THE DISCONNECT private initiatives, and taking up the slack a clear paper trail and a strong customer
Joburg residents are tired. Tired of where the city drops the ball. focus.
failing infrastructure, of shrugging utility Foley’s role is often to support,
companies, of potholes that come back coordinate, or step in where necessary. He He doesn’t love the spotlight. He prefers
faster than they’re fixed. Foley doesn’t sugar- acknowledges that the strength of Ward being in the meeting, not on the podium. But
coat it. 94 lies as much in its residents as its what he values most, he says, is progress —
leadership. even the slow kind.
“People want answers. And sometimes the
honest answer is: I’ve logged it, I’ve followed “We have some incredibly engaged In a city where many have stopped expecting
up, and I’m still waiting. But I will keep communities,” he says. “My job is to keep anything from government, that might just
pushing.” that energy focused and make sure it’s be enough to matter.
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