Florence Radzilani again Vhembe’s executive mayor

The former executive mayor of the Vhembe District Municipality, Ms Florence Radzilani, is tipped to get into that hot seat once more after the local government elections to be held on 3 August.

This was confirmed by the general secretary of the ANC, Mr Gwede Mantashe, on Saturday evening. In his address where he announced mayoral candidates for the party across the county, Mantashe only announced the name of Radzilani as candidate for the ANC in Vhembe and Ms Mihlodi Muhlophe as candidate for the Musina Local Municipality.

The names of the candidates for Thulamela, Makhado and the new entity that includes areas of Malamulele and Vuwani were not revealed.

When approached for comment, a very calm Radzilani said she felt honored to be trusted with the responsibility by her party from local branches, regional, provincial and national office."As a person who was in this position before, I did not expect this honour. But ANC deployments are processed somewhere. So, I could not have any hope, as that might be suicidal. I also think it is important to stress that it is rare for a person to go back to a position like this," said Radzilani, current chairperson of ANC Woman's League in Vhembe.

When asked how she coped being unemployed since May 2014 after being removed from her position as MEC by Premier Stanley Mathabatha, Radzilani said that "as a child of God, one had to appreciate the life given to me."

She stated that she joined the ANC voluntarily. "When we joined the ANC, we were never promised deployment.  The ANC expects us to work for the people as members besides leadership positions we might have."

Meanwhile, one senior ANC member in Vhembe who chose to remain annonymous said Radzilani's candidacy was good news. "As disciplined members of the ANC,  we welcome this decision.  Even in our branches the situation is stable. We expect every ANC member to work hard in making sure that we win the upcoming elections," the member said.

Date:24 June 2016

By: Ndivhuwo Musetha

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