Mr Johnson Matshivha is the new municipal manager of the Musina Municipal Council.

He was appointed during a special council meeting on Monday afternoon. The position became vacant after the resignation of Mr Abram Luruli, who had served the municipality for 14 years, on 4 September this year.

Mr Pedron Nndwa, the community services manager, then acted as municipal manager until Mr Shumani Razwiedani was seconded from Vhembe District Municipality to act as the accounting officer of the border town municipality.

Matshivha is not a novice in administration and government management. He worked as corporate services manager for Musina Municipality four years ago. He rejoined the municipality in the same position four months ago, before accepting the hottest seat in the municipality.

Before he rejoined Musina Municipality, he worked as project manager for the Development Bank of South Africa. In 2008, he was the senior manager for infrastructure management and PPP in the Limpopo Provincial Treasury. He also worked as a coordinator for education and advocacy for the Competition Commission in 2006. In 2004, he was the deputy manager for secretariat services in the Limpopo Provincial Department of Health. Between 2002 and 2003, he has also served as labour practioner and labour relations officer for the Department of Public Works and the Office of the Premier respectively.

Matshivha is armed with various academic qualifications, which include a law degree from the University of the Western Cape, a Certificate in Legal Writing from the University of Cape Town, an Executive Leadership Municipal Development Programme (ELMDP) from the University of Pretoria, a Project Appraisal and Risk Management (PARM) Certificate from the Duke University in the USA and a Programme in Project Management (PPM) from the University of Pretoria.

On behalf of the council, Mayor Carol Phiri says there was no doubt that Matshivha would take the Musina Municipality to a higher level. “Matshivha is a well-experienced manager and we are pleased that he has accepted to take responsibility for the running of this municipality. We will give him our full support to make sure that he executes his duties with ease.” She also passed her gratitude to Mr Shumani Razwiedani "for steering the municipality in the right direction over the past six months."

Mr Matshivha says he is ready for the hot seat. “I believe in team work and I’m ready to take Musina Municipality back to its former glory days.”