SALGA is proud to acknowledge His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa’s appointment of Cllr. Thembi Nkadimeng as the new Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA)

Posted: 06 July 2021

The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) is proud to acknowledge that Cllr. Thembi Nkadimeng has been appointed as the new Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA).

Cllr. Nkadimeng, SALGA’s now outgoing President, was appointed as the Deputy to COGTA Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma by His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday, August 5, 2021.

She fills the vacancy left by Parks Tau, who was appointed by Gauteng premier David Makhura as the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Economic Development on 2 December 2020.

The dedication and ability that brought her to the helm of SALGA will continue to serve her well as she moves along a new and exciting path in service to her country. 

Cllr. Nkadimeng has been serving as SALGA President for 2 years since 2019 and led the organization to attaining and maintaining an 8th consecutive clean audit for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. 

She knows the local government sector well, knows where it needs to go and knows what it needs to do to help it regain public trust. 

Her appointment signals the progress that has been made towards the professionalization of local government and the entrenchment of a culture of service delivery and ethical conduct.

COGTA will benefit immensely from this as it executes its mandate to improve cooperative governance across the three spheres of government, in partnership with institutions of traditional leadership.

She brings with her a wealth of experience in intergovernmental relations and service delivery from both here in South Africa and abroad. During her tenure at SALGA, she served as Polokwane Executive Mayor while at the same time serving as the Co-President of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).

Cllr. Nkadimeng has also been working both domestically and internationally for gender equality, with a particular focus on increasing the representation and participation of all women in local decision-making. 

This, in November 2020, earned her the position of chairperson of the Commonwealth Women in Local Government Network (ComWLG), a network of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) that aims to promote gender equality and greater representation of women in Local Government.

SALGA takes this opportunity to acknowledge Cllr. Nkadimeng’s contribution to the organization and thanks her for her exceptional leadership that helped it grow by leaps and bounds.

We wish her and her newly appointed colleagues well in their new positions.