Cape Town -There are now floodlights in the Avenue of Trees where there were once bodies being dumped and at Dura Court which was once a pitch for gang fights.
This is part of the legacy Barbara Rass leaves behind as she retires from her position as ward councillor.
Rass, 70, is now on retirement and the mother of six has become a pioneer in her community after serving as a ward councillor, voted in by the community since 2009 until 2021.
She said much of what she achieved was also due to the support of her children.
Rass is the founder of the Atlantis Woman’s Movement, House of Healing Shelter which had once been a shebeen, became a peace ambassador for the International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG), attended a conference in Korea, and once served on the hospital board in her community.
She has escaped several attempts on her life during her term as ward councillor, including having her home petrol-bombed. This has never stopped Rass.
She worked in a factory prior to her time as a councillor and opened a shelter and worked closely with the police and Correctional Services Department.
In her time as councillor she attended to pleas for service delivery and after pleas from the community, for street lights to be installed, and in an area that is known for bodies being dumped she made it happen.
“Housing was provided for the first time in Witsands and this was a big accomplishment.
“I came in as the DA ward councillor in a National Party-driven community and I had once been part of the ANC.
“At the shelter, we took in women that came to us from Correctional Services who, for example, had murdered their husbands and had children. We would see to it that they attended court and provided counselling.”
Despite hanging up her councillor shoes, Rass is still working in the community with rape victims and runs a feeding scheme and the shelter.
She ploughed her own salary as a councillor into the shelter.
“I am in competition with no one, I treat everyone equally and I will continue to fight for the rights of women and children,” she said.
Rass’s tattoos on her arms tell another story which she holds sacred.
Rass remembers the women who educated her and brought her to where she is today. “Virginia Engel, who worked in Madiba’s office and former premier Helen Zille, two women who I have the most respect for, they invested in me, knowledge, caring and understanding,” she said.
“I worked with great women and we do not need to compete with one another, just uplift one another.”
Janeen Williams’s life had been impacted by Rass who gave her a place to stay at the shelter after she escaped abuse.
”I was broken and stayed at her shelter as I was abused but she gave me a home and hope. I was 19 and she took me in and turned my life into a testimony. I worked with her at the shelter and helped more abused women and children. She helps women in their darkest days and to see the light. Barbara is a big inspiration in my life and I thank God for such an amazing wonderful woman.”
The South African branch manager for IWPG, Nancy Roussopoulos, said she worked closely with Rass and she was a great example of peace in her community.
“Rass spoke peace into people’s lives and she shared with women internationally during the summit in Korea how proud she is of the women who want peace.”
Weekend Argus