FOUR PERCENT, mayor, mayor, we have a problem, the 'Cederberg Eerste' story

487pp., maps, paperback, Self-published, No Place, 2025

ISBN: 9781037095412

A few months before the 2021 local government elections, a residents association commonly known as CE (Cederberg Eerste), was established to participate exclusively in the Cederberg municipal area. After winning 27% of the vote, CE became the majority partner in a coalition with the ANC and DA. Concerned about the negative trajectory of local government, CE decided to do what they could to rescue the Cederberg municipality. Ruben Richards was inaugurated as Executive Mayor in November 2021.

In this book he discusses how CE, together with coalition partners, managed to improve the delivery of basic services and rescue the Cederberg municipality from bankruptcy. 

Cape Town-born Ruben Richards holds a Doctorate in Religious Studies from the University of Cape Town. In 2012 he established the Ruben Richards Foundation, a South African non-profit organisation dedicated to facilitating healing in traumatised communities. In 2015 the foundation was awarded the National Reconciliation Award by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation for its work in confronting exclusion and facilitating restoration and healing among marginalised groups. In 2019 the Western Cape Education Department endorsed his work for integration into the history curriculum of high school pupils. His latest books include Bastaards or Humans, volumes 1 and 2 and Hottentot Hospitality.