BUKELWA HANS | Look for healthy option when voting in coming election

The Bible contains more than 2,000 verses highlighting the mandate to care for the vulnerable, linking compassion for the poor with honouring God. Voters should hold those entrusted with public office to account, with health being a priority. A local councillor’s role in health is to lead, advocate, oversee and mobilise rather than provide medical services.

Matthew 35-36 states “for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me”. Real change at municipal level lies at the level of budget allocation. Councillors identify community health needs by listening to residents’ health concerns and priorities, raising community health issues during council meetings, advocating for healthcare services, especially in underserved communitie, and ensuring that vulnerable groups (children, women, the elderly, people with disabilities, and people living with chronic illnesses) are represented.

This responsibility is summed up in Psalm 82:3-4: “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”