Nkadimeng to inspire mayors

The newly elected president of the South African Local Government Association (Salga), Thembi Nkadimeng, said her appointment didn't come as a shock but a vote of confidence from her peers.

Nkadimeng, the mayor of Polokwane in Limpopo, took over the reins from former Joburg mayor Parks Tau, who is now deputy minister of co-operative governance and local government.

She had been Salga deputy president since last year.

Nkadimeng said she was excited and ready to hit the ground running by creating jobs for the youth and inspiring district municipalities to enhance service delivery. With her as president, the issue of water shortages will be a thing of the past across Limpopo.

She said strides were already made in provision of basic services such as water and electricity to the people of Limpopo and the plan is to build better roads in district municipalities to enhance local economies.

Speaking about her local municipality, she said: "Water reservoirs were built, new pipes were installed to correct the water challenges within the city. In November the City [Polokwane] will have a nice flow of water without interruptions," Nkadimeng said.

"My priority is that as the sixth administration begins, I need to be able to say to the president of the country, 'these are hundreds of roads and rural in nature but they are going to ignite the rural and the township economy and they must be tarred'."

She also aims to increase connectivity in rural areas. "Why don't we have Wi-Fi in our rural areas and networks in rural areas?" she asked.

Nkadimeng said those were some of the important things that were needed to enable young people in rural areas to apply for jobs where they are.

She said she plans to enhance and improve the current infrastructure in police stations, home affairs offices and libraries to give life to the local communities they are based in.

Nkadimeng said as a start, her council had allocated 30% of its budget of the current financial year to create jobs and improve skills development for local youth.

She said one of her key focus areas was to build community and sports facilities that will improve the lives of youth.