New Polokwane Mayor: “I am here to bring stability and growth”

Administrative challenges within the Polokwane Municipality are but one reason why former Capricorn District Municipality (CDM) Mayor, John Mpe was called upon to serve the ANC in another role.

Mpe officially assumed office as the mayor of Polokwane on September 3, after a special council meeting where he was elected unopposed.

He believes his background in finances and accounting will stand him in good stead in the task that awaits.

“The Polokwane Municipality needs good governance and management in order to grow. That is the reason why I am here, to bring stability and growth. A big issue is the one of obtaining clean audits. When I was at CDM we were able to move from 28 findings that were reduced to 18 and eventually to zero. This is the same trajectory we want to use to get this municipality to a clean audit.”

Mpe says his focus is now on what he has been mandated to do. During his time at the district municipality, one of the biggest lessons he learnt was to make use of municipality’s accountants as far as possible instead of outsourcing the function. In comparison he believes that challenges of the local municipality will be far worse than those at the district due to the magnitude of the local municipality and the responsibilities that come with a city of this size.

“We have mastered the principle of prior planning, which allowed us to use the grants we receive 100%. At CDM we also learned the importance of sustainability and where we can implement projects over a few years we would do so as to not have many small projects but bigger ones that will be able to leave a huge impact in society. We have also mastered the art of getting the right people for the job.”

According to Mpe, CDM built a culture of putting people and their needs first which allows the municipality to serve the people with quality. He says this was important to establish respect between the stakeholders of the municipality which allows the delivery of public services easier.

“In my culture we say that in the absence of leadership and respect we are more likely to collapse. The most important lesson really is that the establishment of respect actively promotes the success of any organisation. These are some of the lessons that I will be bringing with me to the Polokwane Municipality.

If people don’t want to work or serve our people with a smile, then they should go home and allow those who want to work to do so.”

Mayoral committee Polokwane

Mpe appointed the following councillors to serve on his mayoral committee:

• Admin and Governance: Adolf Rapetsoa
• Roads, Transport and Stormwater: Wilhemina Phoshoko
• Land use and Spatial Planning: Hafiz Shaik
• Finance and LED: Malebana Benjamin
• Water and Sanitation: Moakamedi Alfred
• Waste and Environment: Malope Jenifer
• Community Services: Mothata Lisbeth
• Energy: Mamabolo Caroline
• Housing: Nkwe Tshepho
• Sports, Art, Culture and Special Programmes: Josephine Maja

Partnerships are key

Mpe says he will spend his first few days in office engaging with various stakeholders in the municipality on what challenges they face and how the municipality can assist to overcome them.

He says he will be embarking on an extensive stakeholder drive and consultation to translate these words into a solid plan of action. “We shall promote ethical business activities in our city. As we move towards solving all the governance and developmental challenges towards inclusive growth and development.”

During his acceptance speech last week he emphasised the importance of keeping the partnerships with municipal workers, our communities, business, traditional leaders and all other stakeholders. “Working together we shall and must find a long-lasting solution to financial, governance and developmental challenges facing the city as we move towards the realisation of a vision to become the first metro in Limpopo.”

Mpe started on Monday morning with the stakeholder engagement sessions at an internal level by meeting with his mayoral committee followed by the municipality’s administrative department and chairpersons of the various council committees. The sessions are intended to share the political vision, the municipal overview and the challenges and will continue in the next weeks with other stakeholders critical to the municipality’s business.