Polokwane readies for new mayor

By noon on Friday, Polokwane, the biggest, most influential and richest municipality in Limpopo, will have a new mayor following the swearing in of ANC Peter Mokaba regional chair John Mpe.

The municipality will have a special council sitting to elect the new mayor.

The former mayor, Thembi Nkadimeng, was recently appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa as deputy minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs.

Spokesperson for the ANC provincial executive committee, Donald Selamolela, praised Mpe, saying he was second to none in terms of political leadership and administration.

“Mpe is a rare breed of ANC cadres in the province who knows the politics of the ANC inside out,” he said.

“Not only is he a good political leader, he is also a good administrator and statistics speak for themselves.

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“Since his inception as executive mayor for the Capricorn district municipality, Mpe was able to score two consecutive clean audit opinions from the auditor-general for the district municipality, while he also led the region politically with precision and distinction.”

Selamolela added that Mpe was a “straight-talk leader, is the real glue we always needed to unite the region, harvest good audit outcomes and shape the Polokwane municipality to the land of milk and honey”.

The ANC Youth League in the Peter Mokaba region was equally ecstatic.

“He is the right person for the job. Polokwane will never be the same again. Watch the space,” spokesperson Jimmy Mmachaka said on Thursday.

Mpe holds a postgraduate diploma in business administration, a bachelor of management leadership degree and an intermediate diploma in administration and commerce, among other qualifications.