This ‘ship’ has no captain – who will be the next mayor?
Filling the shoes of the late executive mayor, Cllr Linah Malatjie is a huge task.
After the tragic death of the Executive Mayor of Emalahleni, Cllr Linah Malatjie, there is some speculation of who will be taking over the reins as mayor.
Cllr Malatjie and her husband, Mr Essau Malatjie, died on January 3 after a head-on-collision close to Verena.
This left the hot seat open. The first official council meeting for the year will take place on Thursday, January 27.
“The passing of the former mayor Cllr Linah Malatjie means that the ANC has now lost its absolute majority in council and will therefore have to rely on the speaker’s casting vote to pass any contentious issue. This makes the appointment of a replacement of a new proportional representative councillor a matter of urgency,” Mr Clive Hatch, a political analyst, said.
Speculation is rife as to who will succeed Cllr Malatjie as mayor.
“There are three names in the hat,” said Mr Sello Matshoga, the ANC’s regional spokesperson in Mpumalanga.
He said they are Ms Cornelia Nkalitshana, Ms Petunia Qondi Maseko and Mr Mduduzi Nkosi.
Since the adoption of Local Government Legislation in 2000, the ANC has appointed women in mayoral positions, which would suggest that the front-runners for the position would be Mesdames Nkalitshana and Maseko.
“The current speaker Mduduzi Nkosi should however not be ruled out of the running,” Hatch predicted.
Hatch said: “The ANC system for the appointment of a mayor is that the local structure has to submit three names for the party senior structures to interview and make the choice. The current vacancy should be filled by the person who was in number eight position on the proportional representative municipal councillor list submitted for the November 1 election which was Baphelile Maseko, there could however be changes made by the party.”
Matshoga concluded: “Interviews will follow. Diplomas, degrees, or equivalents will be taken into consideration. For now, the speaker and the municipal manager are attending to all the functions of the late mayor.”
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