POLOKWANE – ANC councillor, John Mpe is the Polokwane mayoral candidate until the local government election.
Mpe was officially elected as the ANC candidate following a recommendation made by the Regional Executive Committee (REC) on Wednesday (August 11) that was approved by the Provincial Executive Committee and the National Executive Committee.
REC spokesperson Jimmy Machaka says John will only be able to assume office after a council sitting that will most likely take place later this week.
John Mpe served as the Executive mayor of the Capricorn District Municipality (CDM) since August 2016 and he attended his last council meeting this morning as the CDM Executive Mayor and before he announced his resignation.
His appointment comes three weeks after the former mayor of Polokwane, Thembi Nkadimeng, was redeployed as the Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta).
Mpe earlier congratulated Nkadimeng on her deployment to national government.
“Nkadimeng is no stranger to cooperative governance given her track record in local government and having worked successfully with varied stakeholders as both the Executive Mayor and the President of SALGA. CDM therefore believes that her leadership and passion for service delivery and good governance has adequately prepared her for the new role and we have no doubt that she will be a great addition to the National Executive,” Mpe said in a statement on Tuesday.
With Mpe’s possible move from CDM to Polokwane, a recommendation was also made by the REC to have Mamedupi Tefffo, the current Chief Whip in Polokwane, take over the reigns.
Read the full story in this week’s printed edition.