The position of a vacant Public Representative (PR) Councillor has been speedily filled by the Greater Kokstad Municipality to ensure continuity with a bias to putting the interests of the community first.

Councillor Nobubele Eunice  Thabethe has been officially inaugurated at the Kokstad Council Chamber recently to fill in the vacancy that was created after the resignation of the former Mayor, Bheki Mtolo.

He (Mtolo) resigned from the Municipality in the past months after having been given another task to take over the political responsibilities of being the provincial secretary of the ruling party in KwaZulu-Natal.

However, Mtolo’s position as the Mayor was filled by the former Speaker, Cllr MNL Madikizela, whose position was filled by Cllr Bheki Nozaza.

The local Magistrate, Mr Thabo Mfingwana, conducted the swearing in of Cllr Thabethe.

Cllr Thabethe is a long serving member of the ruling party who worked in the ANC offices in Kokstad and possesses the experience of being a former Deputy Mayor of Kokstad.

Speaking during the swearing in, the Kokstad Mayor Cllr MNL Madikizela did not doubt the fact that the council will benefit with the addition of Cllr Thabethe saying that: “she is one experienced leader who has been loyal to the ruling party and shown the organisation that it was not about positions to her but being a loyal member of the organisation that is always willing to serve the community at all costs”.

He said despite that, the inauguration fulfills their mission of prioritising women to ensure their independence in the ongoing quest to strive to defeat Gender Based Violence (GBV), which is in many cases caused by the high rate of women being financially dependent on men to survive.

“We are a municipality that strongly believes in equality between men and women as even our management is dominated by females,” said Cllr Mdikizela.

The Council Speaker, Cllr Bheki Nozaza, also echoed the Mayor’s sentiments, saying, “We want more females in the Council and I congratulate Cllr Thabethe for joining the Council”.

Cllr Thabethe expressed that she was excited over her inauguration and vowed to continue working as a servant of the people.