Dr Joy Solomon
A long-time councillor in the Milnerton and Table View areas, Dr Joy Solomon, has resigned from public office, effective from the end of the month.
A former chairwoman of the Table View Ratepayers’ Association, Dr Solomon was elected in 2011 as councillor for Ward 4, which includes Joe Slovo, Milnerton Ridge, Montague Gardens, Phoenix, Royal Ascot, Summer Greens and Sunset Beach.
In 2016, she took over Table View’s Ward 113, which covers Flamingo Vlei, Killarney Gardens, Parklands Main Road and Sunridge among others.
Dr Solomon said she had handed in her resignation at the beginning of the month with a mixture of excitement and sadness. She is the third DA councillor in the Tabletalk readership area to resign from office in the past two years.
In 2022, the late Helen Carstens resigned, saying she needed to spend more time with her family (“Ward 5 up for grabs after councillor quits,” Tabletalk, July 27, 2022), and last year, Nicky Rheeder resigned as Ward 107 councillor and as Sub-council 1 chairperson. She said her family was relocating to the Netherlands, where she hoped to finish her studies in sociology (“Ward 107 up for grabs after DA councillor quits,” Tabletalk, April 5, 2023).
Dr Solomon grew up in Milnerton, and in 1979, she and her husband and their 11-month-old son moved to Table View.
“When I got here, there was a thriving primary school (Table View Primary) but no high school. I was extremely vocal in the local ratepayers’ meetings against densification in the area and lobbied for the high school as well as against the destruction of the heritage gum trees along the original single lane road either way down to the beachfront, which eventually became the IRT lane,” she said.
“I have been a dedicated and committed councillor for 13 years, which is hard work if you do the job properly, but have now decided to retire to some place rural and have some ‘me time’, doing the hobbies I love. I thank you all sincerely for your loyal support as well as your criticisms, which made me try harder and be better.”
Dr Solomon jokingly urged Table View residents to give the new councillor a hard time as that helped to make the community run better.