By Nangamso Mabindla
17 March 2006

HISTORY was made in Buffalo City when the City elected its first female mayor on Friday, 17 March. Ntombentle Peter was voted in as executive mayor at the inaugural meeting of the new council following the municipal elections.

A secret ballot was held to elect the mayor and Peter beat the other two candidates, the Pan African Congress's Costa Gazi and the Democratic Alliance's Avis Rens.

In a similar secret ballot Luleka Simon was elected the City's council speaker and for the first time ever, Buffalo City has two women leading the municipality.

Congratulating Peter and Simon on their appointments, Sindisile Maclean, the previous mayor, said it came at a time when the country was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the1956 Women's March to Pretoria.

"It is a proud moment in the history of our city to have two women heading our institution. I am sure that the City will move forward and you will continue where the last council left off," Maclean said.

He also paid tribute to the outgoing council, saying that they had played a big role in transforming Buffalo City into an award-winning city.

In her first address as mayor, Peter pointed to the work Maclean had done in the past five years. She said the new council had to overcome a number of challenges in the next five years if it aimed to succeed.

"Some of these challenges include the eradication of the indignity of joblessness, poverty and hunger by making local government work better. We have the task of changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of our people."

She called for councillors and officials to dedicate themselves to creating a climate that would enable the city's business community and labour movement to help create jobs and alleviate poverty.

Simon echoed the mayor's words, saying councillors and officials needed to work in unison for the City to achieve its goals. "We need to bridge the gap between councillors and officials. We are a team and the people we serve should come first. If we can start working together, the people who voted for us will benefit," she said. "We are accountable to our communities. Their needs should come first when it comes to delivery by the council."

During the council meeting, Oxford Street in East London came to a standstill when protestors from Mdantsane and Duncan Village braved the wet weather and marched to the City Hall calling for Fudukile Mbovane to be inaugurated as Buffalo City mayor.

Buffalo City law enforcement and the South African Police Service had to be deployed when some of the demonstrators started becoming violent, saying their candidate should be elected mayor instead of outgoing mayor Maclean.

Later on in the day, after the demonstration had calmed, they waited for the Buffalo City leadership to address them and announce the city's new mayor.