Mr Kevin John Mileham (DA)

Kevin Mileham

What is your Political background?

I was involved in student politics early on in the 1980s and my main responsibility was to work at polling stations and assisting whenever when needed. My parents were also involved in politics. I started working in post 1994 and I ended up managing a farm delivering eggs, unfortunately roads were in such terrible condition to the point that our products ended up getting damaged. I raised this concern with the local councillor and he told me “do not just complain but get involved in making a difference”. I started by helping the local councillor at the time and he ended up requesting me to take his place which I willingly accepted and that was the start of the interest in politics. I was a Councillor in Ndlambe Local Municipality and this is a Port Alfred area from 2006 to 2011 and from 2011 to 2013 I was a Councillor in Buffalo City Municipality. In 2013 when Mr Athol Trollip went back to the Eastern Cape, I came and took his place here in Parliament and I was a DA’s Shadow Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform. I was then re-elected in 2014 to be the Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

What does my job as MP involve in detailed?

My job as an MP has two basic parts, the one is my legislative and oversight functionality which is the law making and the committee work and making sure that the assigned department is doing its work and making sure municipalities and provinces are able to deliver the service to the people and spending the money effectively and efficiently. The second part of my responsibility is constituency work and my constituency is Buffalo City in the East London area and this is about taking the concerns of the residents and bringing them to Parliament and make sure that they are heard. It is also my responsibility to ensure that the constituency and the councillors are doing their jobs and the whole operation is working well.

What is your impression of the fifth parliament so far?

I think the fifth Parliament is much more robust than the fourth Parliament and it is a very vibrant place and it certainly invigorated South Africa’s interest in Parliament. I don’t know if the fifth Parliament is quite as productive as the fourth Parliament and the antagonism sometimes seems to be a lot real and the conflict that is taking place is not conducive to getting as much work done.

What is your constituency? What is most interesting about your constituency so far?

My constituency is in Buffalo City as already indicated in the East London. I was involved in the project earlier this year where the focus was on collecting sanitary pads for young ladies who are unable to go to school because they cannot afford to buy these sanitary pads. We collected nearly a tonnes of sanitary pads and delivered them to school girls so that they would then not skip classes. This was a great project and it is something that I am really proud of. I was also involved in a little project in a place called Bongweni, which is located just outside East London where we managed to appeal to the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Public Works to put a great structure of school in the area so that school children could have decent facilities.

What are you passionate about?-this applies both in a political/professional and personal?

I read a lot, I love politics in general and I follow any elections that are going down including the American elections, United Kingdom elections or Indian elections and so forth. I watch those politics very passionately and I read and watch a lot of news. I also love my kids. I am currently engaged to another Member of Parliament.

My message to South Africans:

I think the messages that South Africans need to take to heart is that they need to be critical of their government and analyse anything that the government says and asses it whether it is a truth or false information. South Africans also need to be much more active in politics and participate in politics as it does not help to sit on the sideline and say “I’m not interested on politics”.

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