The newly elected executive mayor of the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM), Cllr Florence Radzilani, promised to change so-called dysfunctional municipalities in Limpopo into working municipalities.
She addressed councillors, municipal officials and guests during the inauguration ceremony in the council chamber in Thohoyandou. During the ceremony, 59 councillors were sworn in by High Court Judge Khami Makhafola.
"One of the reasons which contributed to the Vhembe District Municipality's being classified amongst the dysfunctional and underperforming municipalities in the province is the non- filling of the critical posts. You will all recall that, for more than a year now, this municipality has been running without a dedicated full-time municipal manager and chief financial officer," said Radzilani.
She added that she was worried "about the repeated poor audit outcomes which have been with us over the long period." According to her, municipal officials are at present "sitting with an adverse audit opinion as per the report of the Auditor General ending November, 2015. These created a negative impact with the management of public funds and people looked at us like we are either not competent enough or simply don't care."
She said during her tenure, she would no longer tolerate an under-par performance and for this coming financial year, "the council will at least expect that we achieve nothing short of an unqualified audit opinion, to show that we are on an upward trajectory."
Radzilani also added that water was a basic commodity, "which is the very basis of life itself and our communities are facing with the challenge of water. Part of things we will be doing immediately is the maintenance of exciting infrastructure and upgrading and I want my teams assembled to refurbish and repair all our damaged boreholes."
According to Radzilani, the new council is expecting to join hands with the traditional leaders in the quest to develop all impoverished rural communities. The chairperson of the Vhembe House of Traditional Leaders, Hosi Busa Nxumalo, said he and other traditional leaders in the district were ready to work with the collective leadership of the new executive mayor and her councillors. "We are going to give all the support and we hope to sign a memorandum of understanding with the new council on service delivery to communities."
Cllr Freda Nkondo was elected Speaker, while veteran MKMV and former MEC for Safety, Security and Liaison, Mr Sampson Ratshivhanda Ndou, was elected Chief Whip of the district.