By Ncaba Ntshakala
There is a new sheriff in town!
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Apollo Maphalala has welcomed his successor at the Malkerns Town Council, Cinisela Dlamini, who has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer.
This appointment follows Maphalala’s own elevation to parliament and his subsequent appointment to the Cabinet by His Majesty King Mswati III.
During the official unveiling of Dlamini, Minister Apollo Maphalala extended his heartfelt congratulations to the new Mayor, Bongani Mabuza.
He remarked, “I did spend some time with most of the Councillors, so I’m excited to see you again. Under the new administration, I think I got some time last week to congratulate the new mayors that were elected around April, May.
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I think that’s when the elections were, the annual mayoral elections. So I did get some time to congratulate the mayors,
but it would not be amiss of me as well to congratulate you, Mr. or Councillor Mabuza, for being entrusted with this very huge responsibility of leading, you know, the discussions in Council or leading Council meetings.
It’s not a small thing. It’s a 12-month assignment, but very critical. If badly handled, I mean, you can put the whole, you know, town in disarray, but if appropriately handled, then we’ll see growth and peace in Malkerns town.”
He also expressed his gratitude towards the new town clerk, emphasizing the importance of a smooth recruitment process.
“We also would like to welcome the new town clerk and thank you for bringing him to the Ministry, for him to get the blessings from the Ministry.
I also congratulate the Councillors for the smooth recruitment processes. We have seen how recruitment processes can often be, you know, rocky, but I think you did well, so I really congratulate you on that.
It’s a serious assignment to look for a person who’s going to head the administration. So, I congratulate the Councillors on that assignment, particularly because the reports that I received, the written report that I received, were in tandem with what you had recommended yourself.
So, it made it easier for us to progress without much hassle in terms of anointing the new CEO. So, I’m happy that you’ve eventually even brought him here for us to have a word or two with him.”
Maphalala highlighted the significance of this moment for Malkerns town and urban governance as a whole.
He stressed the importance of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Number 11, which focuses on making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
“This is a significant milestone in the journey of Malkerns town as a municipality, but urban government in general. Amongst the Sustainable Development Goals, we spend a lot of our time on Sustainable Goal Number 11 for making our cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
So, I think that’s the assignment that you are taking from the day you signed your contract, Mr. Dlamini.”
Furthermore, the Minister assured Dlamini of the support he would receive from both within and outside Malkerns town, highlighting the organized nature of local government.
He infomreed him that he is joining a family of well-organized people, both in Council and in the administration.
“Not only in Malkerns town, but our local government, urban local government in general, is an organized sector.
So, I think you will have a lot of people that can help you as you settle down, both within Malkerns town and outside Malkerns town,” the Minister said “At the end of the day, it would be nice of you when you look back to say, yes, I’ve contributed to a safe Malkerns town.
I’ve contributed to an inclusive Malkerns town. I’ve contributed to a resilient Malkerns town. And I’ve contributed to a sustainable Malkerns town.”
He also touched on the need for inclusiveness and ideological safety, particularly for the youth saying, “If we had time, we are going to unpack each of these elements of Sustainable Goal Number 11 in terms of the inclusiveness of our cities.
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” The Minister asserted that inclusive in terms of infrastructure, inclusive in terms of policies. He added that inclusive even in terms of how they view different groups within town.
“Some groups are marginalized. Some have a stronger voice than others.
But if we are an inclusive city, or if we are an inclusive local authority, we need to be sure that we balance all of these elements to ensure that our city is really inclusive for everyone,” expressed Maphalala.
“You need to contribute to a safe Malkerns town. Again, safety is not only in terms of security as we know security to be. But safe even includes ideological safety.
We need to ensure that as our young people grow, they are ideologically aligned and appropriately patriotic as citizens.”
