The first council meeting of the newly appointed Mayor of Gert Sibande District Municipality (GSDM), his honourable Kgotso William Motloung, was held at the new Gert Sibande offices in Ermelo on Friday, 3 June. 
The house was filled with excitement and songs as the new Mayor took his position next to the new Speaker, Clr ES Dlamini.  On his acceptance speech, Mr Motloung said, “I am profoundly grateful to have been elected as the Executive Mayor of the Gert Sibande District Council and I wish to express my deepest gratitude.  I accept the position as Executive Mayor of the Gert Sibande District Council and I am quite aware of the responsibilities.” The Mayor also said he will pay attention to projects that will develop the community while creating more sustainable jobs, by creating a service providers database to give communities opportunity to do business within the municipality.
The formal proceedings of the first council meeting saw the new leadership of the Gert Sibande council being elected, unopposed, to serve the district community.  The elected leaders promised to instill community confidence by speeding service delivery, communicating and giving community feedback on service delivery projects that are planned and implemented at their areas.  The meeting also confirmed the official appointment of the new Chief Whip, Councillor TA Mnisi, and the members of the Mayoral committees.   
The composition of the Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) is as follows: Clr Flora Maboa-Boltman (Corporate Services); Clr Nhlanganipho Zuma (Infrastructure, Technical Services and Youth Development); Clr Joshua Nkosi (Culture, Sport & Recreation); Clr Fikile Nyembe (Social services and Health); Clr Peter Hlabathi (Rural Development and Agrarian Reform) and Clr Patrick Magagula (Education and Human Settlement).
The municipality also proclaimed the sitting and participation of the District House of Traditional leaders in the district council.  LM