Winds of change sweep through local government

Following the recent local elections things have changed in local government both on a national scale and right here in our municipal district of eMalahleni. On Thursday, August 18 the very first council meeting was held following the election where the ward councillors were sworn in and the mayor, speaker and chief whip were voted in as well.

Speaker Cllr Busisiwe Hlumbane giving her acceptance speech.

The mayor of eMalahleni for the foreseeable terms is Honourable Executive Mayor Cllr Lindiwe Ntshalintshali. The cheering and singing from the public as she took to the stage highlights her favour with the voters but also serve as a reminder that everyone will now be looking to her to lead them to better days.

The DA contested the nomination for both the mayor and chief whip with their own nominations and a lengthy voting process ensued. Ultimately the nominated councillors from the ANC won the majority and were sworn in. The speaker is Cllr Busisiwe Hlumbane and the Chief Whip is Cllr Connie Simelane.

The crowd cheering during the swearing in of the councillors.

During the meeting the public sang and cheered for their favourite councillors but also booed and laughed at others from the balcony seating in the town Hall where the meeting took place. The public seemed to have very strong opinions about the municipal leadership and that includes the announced mayoral committee which are as follows:

Cllr Hessie Maseko (finance), Cllr Jerry Djiana (technical services), Cllr Johannes Mashipa (corporate services), Cllr Thabang Mathebula (water management), Cllr Derick Skhosana (community services), and Cllr Cecilia Maraba (development planning).

The economic freedom fighters (EFF) gained a lot of ground in their first local elections. A Mpumalanga representative for the EFF said,

Honourable Executive Mayor Cllr Lindiwe Ntshalintshali at the public council meeting on August 18.

“It is a major achievement indeed and this is the beginning of the end of the ANC dominance and arrogance in the municipality. As we have said before we are going to keep a close eye to the public purse in order to stop the high level of corruption that has been taking place in the municipality.”

He also expressed gratitude for the support from the public,

“Thanks to the people of eMalahleni for having hope and showing trust in the EFF we will never disappoint them they must be happy that at long last they have EFF as their eyes and ears and voice in the municipality.”

The Democratic Alliance in eMalahleni also weighed in on the results from the election and overall is very satisfied with the results because the party retained the six wards that it previously held but also won two additional wards and its overall number of votes increased by 10 percent.

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