HUMANS OF SWELLENDAM SERIES

Written by: Chief. Kagisho Molema 2024/2025

What is the difference between a cow and a buffalo? I will explain later.  The first citizen of Swellendam town in the Western Cape is a staunch Blue Bulls supporter in Stormers territory – let’s get that out of the way. Francois du Rand is not afraid of walking the path less taken. After spending eight years in England, he came back to South Africa and found people complaining about the state of governance in the country. Everyone was complaining, but people were not willing to do anything to change things for the better.

He took the onus upon himself to be a changemaker. That’s how Francois got into the world of politics. He says he must constantly remind himself why he got into politics because in the muddy world of politics, you can easily lose sight of why you got into politics in the first place.  Mr Sakie Franken, the current Mayor of the Overberg District Muninipality, told him “the only way to change things is from the inside, and not from the outside”. He advised him to run for ward councillor, if he wants to make a difference.

After his party won the elections, he started heading the finance and infrastructure portfolio in the municipality. That is where he got intimately acquainted with the infrastructure challenges that the municipality faces. With the gained knowledge and experience, he knew he could do well to turn the municipality around. The next phase of his political career was to become a mayor, and he underwent the rigorous interview process. When he did become Executive Mayor, he quickly realised that politics is a game of thrones, and everyone comes for the king’s head. He must ward off attacks from within and without. Political opponents do try to jeopardise service delivery so they could discredit and unseat him as the mayor. Even some opponents from within his own party were willing to go to extreme lengths to knock him off the top position. He knows that is how it is, and he seems to be highly unbothered by that, because he has his eyes fixed on the goals.

I believe that if you have a large team, tasks can often remain incomplete because individuals can shift responsibility and avoid accountability. In contrast, with a small team, it becomes immediately obvious when someone is not fulfilling their responsibilities, because their incompetence becomes glaring. However, the Mayor insists that with increased staff he can do more. “As long as you get the right people in the right positions, and it is key to not interfere with their jobs”, he adds.

Given that Swellendam is a small town with a limited tax base, the municipality faces challenges in offering competitive salaries to attract and retain qualified professionals. He explains that one way of attracting the right people is to make potential employees see the other benefits of moving to Swellendam besides money, which is the exceptional quality of life the town offers. Being in office has made Francois friends with the phrase “it is the Mayor’s fault”, citing that everything that goes wrong, or right, is always the Mayor’s fault. Some feel he is too white, and some feel he is too black. He is still a ward councillor and an active member of society. Despite the problems facing the municipality, the municipality has scored quite high in the infrastructure development score, a fact that Francois notes as his proudest achievement in office. This is a rating system done by Ratings Africa which is known as the Municipal Financial Sustainability Index (MFSI), which looks at factors like operating performance, liquidity management, debt governance, etc. Swellendam scored a high 87 in 2022, coming from a low 17 in 2018. The municipality has scooped an award for this massive leap. The Mayor is also proud of the clean audits the municipality has received. Employing a compliance officer as part of the municipal team, helps the municipality navigate government regulations more effectively, ensuring the allocated budget is spent appropriately.  On a lighter note, how does Francois relax from the world of problems that is politics? His energy noticeably spikes when he talks about his love for rugby. There is nothing he enjoys more than watching a game of rugby with family and friends. The man is a staunch Blue Bulls’ supporter, and he has even been varsity roommates with Bok legend, Victor Matfield. His favourite springbok of all time is Handre Pollard.

Work-life balance is a rare thing when you are the Mayor. The word “meeting” has become a swear word in his house, because he is always rushing off to the next meeting. He has promised his family that he will serve only one term as Mayor before he leaves the chaos behind. As to whether he will be able to keep to this promise, we are not sure. He casually states that he misses the chaos of the kitchen – another subject that lights up his eyes is cooking. Francois says he got the passion for cooking from his grandmother. His granny loved to cook, and he saw how food made people happy. Being the extrovert that he is, he loves it when people are happy. He reminisces about his journey in the culinary world. How he became a waiter in England and got promoted to be an assistant cook, and becoming a head chef, to eventually opening his restaurant in Swellendam. He is proud of the people he has developed in his journey as a restaurateur – these are people who entered his door without much knowledge of cooking who soon enough were so well-trained and became head chefs in other restaurants. He misses the adrenaline of getting things done at fast speeds in the kitchen, but this is a journey that remains memorable in his heart. Mr Mayor has recently sold his beloved restaurant, Field and Fork, and the new owners took over from 01 June 2025.

His hope for Swellendam is economic growth. His vision is to attract investors who will create jobs and expand the town’s tax base. He says there is already a population explosion into the Western Cape, and Swellendam has also seen a grand rise in its population. His wish for the families and individuals that are moving into Swellendam, is that they contribute positively to what they find here, so that together we can continue to make the life-quality of this town a desirable one. He acknowledges that the municipality needs to expand the town’s infrastructure to meet demand. His mind is already digesting other problems that lie ahead of this small town. The problem of Swellendam’s economic development is not only the Mayor’s problem to deal with, it is a problem for every Swellendammer to think about. Swellendam is a countryside town situated on the N2 in the Western Cape, halfway between Cape Town and George. According to South African Tourism, this third oldest town marks the beginning of the Garden Route and what a paradise destination it is. Despite the occasional uprises, this is a well governed town.

A cow runs away from the storm, but actually stays longer within the storm, because it is moving with it. A buffalo goes towards the storm and moves through the storm quickly. This is the mindset I sense from Cllr. Francois du Rand. He does not run away from problems, he goes towards them. A short duration from now, our honourable Mayor may get tempted to serve another term, until then, he would have weathered many storms.