Ellen Pakkies.
Image: FILE
“I know the pain that drugs and gangsterism bring into a home, and I want to use my experience to help other families before they reach breaking point.”
These were the words of Ellen Pakkies who has been announced as the National Coloured Congress’ (NCC) Cape Town mayoral candidate.
Pakkies this week said her mayoral bid is about fighting for the people of Cape Town’s forgotten communities.
SYMBOL: NCC party leader Fadiel Adams and Ellen Pakkies.
Image: Supplied
Best known for becoming the face of the Cape Flats’ drug crisis, after she killed her drug-addicted son in 2007, Pakkies has since turned her pain into activism, speaking out against gangsterism, tik, and the lack of support for struggling families.
Now, as the NCC mayoral candidate, she says her focus is clear: safer communities and real help for mothers.
Pakkies said her lived experience gives her a direct understanding of the daily battles facing Cape Flats residents.
“This is bigger than politics for me. This is about the people, the mothers, the children, and the communities who feel forgotten,” Pakkies said.
Her priorities include tackling drug dens, expanding rehabilitation support, and pushing for stronger social development in vulnerable areas.
“We need real action, more rehabilitation centres and jobs for our people so that our children have another path,” Pakkies said.
She added that her campaign is rooted in community voices.
“I want Cape Town to be a city where local people and local solutions matter.”
Party leader Fadiel Adams said Pakkies’ mayoral candidacy is meant to give a voice to the pain of Cape Flats communities.
He said the decision was rooted in what Pakkies represents for mothers and families battling gangsterism and drugs.
“Ellen Pakkies is the embodiment of the suffering of mothers on the Cape Flats due to systemic collapse,” Adams said.
“She is a symbolic choice. We make no apologies for this. The suffering of our people is an emotional topic,” he added.
Cape Times