‘I swear to perform the functions of my office conscientiously and at the best of my ability’.
The celebrated author Fred De Witt Van Amburgh once said ‘the poorest of us is the person that is not thankful or grateful for anything they have’, and further stated that gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy. These words by Van Amburgh keep the human race going, reminding us that our indebtedness to others can be easily repaid by being thankful and kind to others.
It is for this reason that I thank the members of the Newcastle Municipality for their overwhelming support during my first year in office as Mayor. This week also marks the day when I made an earnest promise, to serve the residents of this municipality with distinction, and without fear or favour. This was also the day when our administration, as a collective committed ourselves to placing this community first before our interests.
I recall the bold duty which we undertook, steadfast we promised to root out corruption and put an end to unnecessary perks for municipal officials. For us this was a grave posture, a fulfilling and selfless role.
I remember telling one of my colleagues that I wanted to devote my tenure in office to every resident of our municipality. During our conversation, it dawned on us that there was nothing special about taking such bold steps, for it is what is expected from every leader of society.
My first encounter with the reality that ours was a unique task, which needed responsiveness from the first day in office. I recollect receiving a number of calls before the mayoral inauguration. Most of the callers were comrades from the African National Congress and a host of calls from ordinary members of the community, some of whom I had come across either working as a doctor at the local hospital or at my practice.
My mobile phone had never been so busy before. However, I attentively gave audience to every caller and listened in solemnity as everyone wanted to send their heartfelt well-wishes before I assumed office. At the end of almost every conversation, the person on the other side would sincerely ask me to represent the community well, restore the dignity of our residents and uncompromisingly fight corruption.
The chorus of support messages was overwhelming, but what struck the chord for me and the collective leadership was the faith that residents have in us. We vowed not to betray them; we vowed not to seek for applause for providing basic services to our people or fighting corruption; we agreed that the only time that we can be praised, is when we have concluded our tenures in office and allow society to assess our contribution towards improving their lives.
We’ve achieved our mission of cutting unnecessary spending, and channelling funds to critical projects. We’ve focused spending on speeding up electrification for every ward, improving roads, rejuvenating our municipal infrastructure, launching a massive campaign to recovery of tax payer’s monies which were embezzled from municipal coffers, improved water and sanitation for previously disadvantaged communities, sealing and resurfacing of roads.
We’ve also worked on various solutions which will prevent ailing water infrastructure from failing. However our task remains incomplete, as members of the community are calling for people to account for their acts of malfeasance and corruption before the judiciary. A number of them have been dismissed following disciplinary processes.
As a municipality we are not dithering in making individuals account and we call upon members of our community to continue sounding the bell of distress if municipal officials or employees are found to be involved in corruption.
Mayor of Newcastle, Cllr Dr Ntuthuko Mahlaba
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Email: Reveshni Douglas (Editor) at reveshni@caxton.co.za
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