Home News New Phokwane mayor says ’festivities are over’

New Phokwane mayor says ’festivities are over’

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The newly elected mayor of Phokwane Local Municipality, Tebogo Afrika, has told the new council that the festivities are over and it is time for them to roll up their sleeves and start doing the work.

Phokwane Municipality Speaker Remaketse Selogilwe and newly elected mayor Tebogo Afrika. Picture: Supplied

THE NEWLY elected mayor of Phokwane Local Municipality, Tebogo Afrika, has told the new council that the festivities are over and it is time for them to roll up their sleeves and start doing the work.

Afrika won the mayoral chain by 11-8 votes, where the former mayor, Olebogeng Tumodi, also contested for the position.

Remaketse Selogilwe was re-elected as Speaker during the council meeting on Monday, while Tsholofelo Diloke was elected as an executive council member.

During his acceptance speech, Afrika advised councillors that they could not afford to waste any energy on unnecessary conflict.

“The work must commence in all earnestness. We need to focus our energy as a unit and put our differences aside for the sake of communities that elected us,” said Afrika.

“We have no time to waste on unnecessary conflict as it has no positive outcome. The ideal motion is to keep promises with regards to service delivery. The needs of the communities are always of paramount importance, hence it is always crucial to be guided by the principles that we are both servants and leaders within the community. At all times be selfless, set a good example to our people.

“Let us then put all our hands on deck to build up this community and develop Phokwane into a model municipality … we will make our community proud. In this difficult local election process, our community was able to put faith in us as leaders and never doubt our commitment.”

Afrika also advised councillors to be responsible citizens and abide by the law.

“Decent citizens should have nothing to fear, but if you’re breaking the rules right and left, watch out. The police aren’t there just to be admired in their uniforms. You must live responsibly – not just to avoid punishment but also because it’s the right way to live.”

Afrika committed to upholding the values of the ANC during his tenure as the mayor.

“It is with a grateful heart and honour that I stand before you in my capacity as the newly elected mayor of Phokwane municipality. I thank the Lord Mighty for my achievement. I am thankful to the community of Pampierstad, especially Ward 4, and also to the ANC that has believed in me to take on this task.”

Meanwhile, Phokwane Service Delivery Forum party leader Michael Castro Setlohogomi said one proportional representative councillor and one district representative were sworn in during the council meeting.

“We aim to hand the municipality back to its rightful owners – the community. The local government elections demonstrated a serious decline in the ANC’s support base,” said Setlohogomi.

He explained that while they had hoped to consolidate all opposition parties to ensure an end to corruption and poor service delivery, they had not succeeded in forming a coalition.

“After weeks of engagement with the DA, the ANC promised them an executive committee position. However, the ANC failed to deliver on its promise despite them having voted with the ANC for the Speaker position.

“We condemn the betrayal of the DA councillors, their voters and supporters. It is selfish and shows a serious lack of trust to form a collective agreement. We stand to correct this mistake. We have always maintained that whoever speaks for the community and not themselves is one of our own.”

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