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13 February 2019
www.thevillagenews.co.za
End of an era for Overstrand's former mayor Writer Elaine Davie
than anywhere else in the country. That alone should give us hope for the future, she feels, despite the recent unrest. “I always tried to keep an open mind and an open door. We need to think out of the box. There is always a solution to any problem, if we are prepared to talk and to listen to one another; to be honest and open, straight forward – and to treat people, even those with whom you don’t agree – equally and honestly. Anything is possible if we can learn to work together for the good of the community, even if that means setting aside party loyalties. In fact, I think that local government should never have been politicised at all. It always gets in the way.”
W
ho can guess what twists and turns one’s life may take? When former Mayor of the Overstrand, Nicolette Johnson (Botha-Guthrie) was growing up in rural Darling she longed to be a social worker, but her protective father felt she might be exposed to violence and danger and dug in his heels. Disappointed at the time, Nicolette never quite gave up on her dream and many years later when the opportunity came for her to effect positive change in her community, she grabbed it with both hands.
Now, 19 years after joining the Overstrand Town Council as a rookie councillor, having served two mayoral terms, as well as a further period as Overberg District mayor, she will be retiring from public life at the end of February this year. It will be the end of an era, both for her and for the Overstrand. “It is difficult for me to leave, make no mistake,” she says with a hint of sadness in her voice, “I was very much a hands-on mayor, you know, involved in every aspect of the Administration, as well as structures and initiatives at grassroots level. I truly wanted to make a positive contribution to the lives of the wonderful people in all our communities. But being a mayor is a very lonely life; you have to operate within a very tightly prescribed set of rules and regulations and you can’t afford to get too close to anyone. If you are truly committed, it also means being available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. So it was time. In December last year, I got married (to businessman, Robert Johnson of Bona Dea Estate) and I’m entering a new phase of my life with Robert, so it’s time to move on.” This will not be the first time in her very diverse and fascinating career that she has moved on to something different. Her very first job was with the Deciduous Fruit Board in 1965, then she went on to join Boland Bank as PA to the General Manager and then, in 1972, she made the most momentous change of all: she joined the National Intelligence Service (NIS) under the leadership of Director-General, Niël Barnard, where
Former Mayor of the Overstrand, Nicolette Johnson relaxing at home with her husband, Robert. PHOTO: Taylum Meyer
she remained for 24 years, climbing steadily through the ranks, first in its parliamentary office and then in the Service’s Pretoria Head Office. While still in Cape Town, she met and married her first husband, Phillip Botha, who was in parliament. Although, as a government employee, she was not actively involved in politics, she often watched parliamentary debates in the Chamber and the environment fascinated her. When they moved to Pretoria, Phillip, who was a political analyst and public relations specialist, opened his own business and her progress through various departments of the NIS continued, becoming the first woman to be appointed to a middle management position in the Service. In Pretoria she acted as a recruitment officer, followed by stints in HR, logistics, stores and transport, but perhaps most interesting of all, she was tasked with opening the service’s protocol division, which involved , amongst other things, welcoming official visitors to the country, as well as travelling abroad to find and decorate residences for South African deployees. “I even had the honour
to decorate Mr Mandela’s house in Victor Verster prison,” she proudly remembers, “because, of course, Niël Barnard was one of those senior officials who were very much involved in pre-release discussions with him.” When, after 31 years of marriage, sadly her husband died, she decided to close his business and come back to the Cape to be close to her family, especially her elderly mother who was living in Robertson. She and her husband had had a holiday cottage in Vermont for some time and in 1998 she decided to settle there permanently – her second life-changing step.
ing everyone, no matter what their standing in life. This is a principle I have tried to implement all my life and it was certainly front of mind when I was mayor. I wanted to ensure that everyone in this district was treated fairly and benefited equally from living here. Although it was a difficult period in the country from an economic point of view, it was an enormous privilege for me to serve our people to the best of my ability.
After a stint with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) which was preparing for the general election of 1999, she became a representative of the Vermont Ratepayers’ Association, joined the DA when it was formed, and became an Overstrand councillor in 2000, representing it on the District Council for several years. And the rest, as they say, is history.
“Despite the financial problems, I am proud to say that under my leadership we never overspent on our budget and when I left office, there was a reserve in the bank. And, of course, we were all very proud of the recognition we received for our efforts – one of the top municipalities in the country from 2011 to 2016. A very special moment was when we received the very first clean audit ever!” She emphasises that another major concern for her was always to try to balance the need for economic development with that of environmental preservation.
“When I was a child,” remembers Nicolette, “my father always drilled into us the importance of respect-
She pays tribute to the people of the area, too, believing that there must be more goodwill in our communities
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Although she is leaving public life, she is determined to remain involved with some of the community organisations with which she feels an especially strong affinity, like Lighthouse2Lighthouse, Camphill, Hospice, Just Care, CANSA, the Hermanus Seniors Centre– organisations that serve all the local communities equally. It is a sadness in her life that she never had children of her own, but her second husband, Mark Guthrie, to whom she was married for 10 years, had eight, with whom she has remained deeply involved. And now that she and Robert are married, their extended family has grown even bigger. They are planning to make up for lost time, enjoy life and travel a lot, especially as most of Robert’s family, including his mother, still live in the UK, but both see Hermanus as their home base where they share many interests and two devoted and demanding dogs. Importantly, although Nicolette thinks the country is going through a dangerous period of political instability and the upcoming elections are likely to bring about even more turbulence, she remains hopeful for the future and is adamant that she and Robert are irretrievably bound to this beautiful part of the world. We wish them bon voyage and a speedy return to our community. (Disclaimer: Nicolette reminded me that I was an inadvertent party to her first meeting with Robert. So I feel I have a particular responsibility for their future happiness!)
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