By Mukelwa Hlatshwayo

Gwen Ramokgopa has been elected as the first female Executive Mayor of Tshwane.

Councillor Khorombi Dau was re-elected Council Speaker, and Councillor Tebogo Mampane Komane was elected the Chief Whip.

Before Ramokgopa delivered her inaugural speech, councillors burst into song, congratulating her.

The Executive Mayor began her address by acknowledging various dignitaries from Parliament and provincial government, as well as the former Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa.

She expressed her gratitude for the support she had received from all who were present.

Ramokgopa outlined a five-year programme based on the election manifesto, which would be developed within the next three weeks by the Mayoral Committee along with the Council and the stakeholders.

The programme would look at accelerating service delivery and improving government's housing policy, which should ensure the availability of better-quality houses closer to economic opportunities and avoid corruption in the administration of the municipal housing policy.

She stressed the importance of a plan that will ensure that there is a working relationship between all three levels of government that is conducive to realising the vision of the President's new policy - the Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa - as well as that of the Freedom Charter.

Ramokgopa also spoke of how, with the support of the Council and the Municipality as a whole, she intended to ensure that the lives of the residents of Tshwane would be improved through job creation and the development of the local economy, in the process ensuring that residents exercise their democratic right to determine their own destinies.

Source: Tshwane City