profile*
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icole Bollman is a born and raised Durbanite, schooled at Northway Junior Primary, then Northlands Primary, and finally Northlands Girls’ High. She knows the territory intimately, and today, she lives, works, works again, and is single mom to two kids – “awesome kids,” she says – close on 16-year-old Tatum, and nine-year-old Liam. Listening to 47-year-old Nicole, community-centricity is her middle name: “I was involved in community groups right from school. President of the north Durban Rotoract Club – Junior Rotary – I’ve always thrived on giving back, whether it’s time or mentorship. I’m passionate about my home, my city, my country and all who live here, and I’m very often the voice of the voiceless.” Way back when, Nicole had always wanted to be involved in design, but it was not to be. Her working life began at 17 at SARS, and after a few years she joined an auditing firm: “When I was retrenched, I ventured into real estate, qualifying as a property practitioner in 2010. Real estate has been so much fun because I’ve watched many of these suburbs evolve – in a sense, we’ve grown up together. I’m passionate about my community, so much so that I welcome new families here and feel sad when our older folk sell to move on. There’s so much history in our community with people who’ve lived here for decades. To hear their stories of how they met and brought up their families brings me such a sense of nostalgia – pretty much why I started the Facebook Page ‘Durban North Past Present & Future’ in 2017.” Nicole became a councillor after she met John Steenhuisen: “That was back in 2009, through Rotary, and we had a conversation about the Democratic Alliance. This prompted me to attend branch meetings in Ward 36, that is, Durban North. But getting
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NICOLE BOLLMAN INCREASINGLY IN WARD 35, YOU’LL HEAR THE NAME OF COUNCILLOR NICOLE BOLLMAN – WITH VERY GOOD REASON. AMONG HER SKILL SETS, SHE’S A STRONG, STRAIGHTFORWARD COMMUNICATOR, WHICH IS MUCH APPRECIATED, WRITES ANNE SCHAUFFER
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