A rebel with mountains to climb

Party leader of the Republican Conference of Tshwane (RCT) has a love for independence, hatred of influence and always does the right thing, even if it means going it alone.

Lex Middelberg, 63, has the only independent seat on the council. Middelberg, who spent most of his life in Pretoria, was born in Maandagshoek in Limpopo and moved to the capital city at 11 because of his father’s work as a doctor at mission stations.

After matriculating at Hoërskool Verwoerdburg, he studied law at the University of Pretoria and worked as a lawyer for 10 years before entering the business world and, later, politics.

Middelberg’s life

Middelberg lives alone on a farm on the edge of the Magaliesberg in the Donkerhoek area, with his two dogs, a Doberman and a Jack Russell, whom he describes as his children.

“After my soulmate passed away from cancer in 2014, I have remained single,” he said. Nowadays Middelberg wakes up at 4.30am to watch the sun rise with a pot of coffee.

“I don’t read the newspapers or watch TV. We threw ours away when we initially moved to the farm and haven’t owned one since. The last time I watched TV was in 2007,” he said.

Middelberg says without TV or the news, people are more likely to do their own research and form their own opinions without being influenced by what is being pushed on you by others.

“It gives you more independent thinking. It’s a philosophy of independence,” he added.

Middelberg’s favourite part of Pretoria

Middelberg said he has also been driving the same car for the past 20 years because he believe maintenance is better than replacement.

“The same goes for the City of Tshwane. It’s cheaper to maintain stuff than to buy new ones; that’s part of our city’s problem,” he added.

Middelberg’s favourite part of Pretoria is the Magaliesberg that runs through the city. “In university, I used to hike the Magaliesberg often and spent many holidays hiking the mountains.

I have hiked the mountains from one side to the other side. It’s my favourite part of Pretoria; that’s why I bought a farm close to it. Middelberg said when you stand on top of the Magaliesberg range, you see the division between two ecosystems, the Highveld and Witwatersrand.

“The two sides of the mountain differ vastly, just like two cities.” Middelburg started climbing mountains to overcome his fear of heights and has climbed the Blouberg and the Drakensberg mountains as well. “I find calm in nature.”

Political journey

Middelburg’ political career started in 2011, when he was approached by the DA to join the party due to his involvement in the Bronberg area, where he assisted residents to stand against the intrusion of the reserve.

“Eventually in 2016, I stood as a PR councillor but then resigned from the campaign early in that term because I had no faith in the leadership of the party. Middelberg and some of his colleagues who had also left the DA started a political pressure group, the Tshwane Money Makers Caucus, which eventually led to him founding of the RCT.

“The idea was never to go back into politics. It was to put pressure on the government of the day over the finances of the city, agricultural and vacant land issues.

“But we realised it doesn’t help being a pressure group, because if you want change, it had to happen in council,” he said.

“Two and a half months before that election we decided to launch a municipal party, not a political or national party, and won a seat in council in 2021.”

Second term on council

Middleberg, who has since been in politics, is looking forward to a second term on council. “My focus has always been on the city’s finances, simply because everything is dependent on the finances.

“The most important part is the planning of the budget, the approval of the budget and the monitoring of the proper expenditure of the budget. We are the supervisors on behalf of the public,” he added.

Middelberg said he had one term left in him and wanted his party to evolve without him and stand on its own. “Like I did,” he added.