The executive mayor of Vhembe District, Cllr Falaza Mdaka, was bidden farewell at an event that was held at Muofhe Graceland Lodge in Thohoyandou last Friday night.

Mdaka vacated the region’s top position of executive mayorship, following the decision by the ANC to nominate the head of the technical services portfolio committee, Ms Florence Rumani, as a possible candidate for this position, after the local government elections.

Mdaka, the chairperson of the ANC in the region, was appointed as executive mayor in 2007, after the suspension of former executive mayor Ms Irene Mutsila. He confirmed that he is not coming back for another term as executive mayor. “I will be the first person to support the new executive mayor," he said.

Mdaka said he would never opt for a position in the private sector, but would rather wait for the ANC to redeploy him. “The ANC still needs me and I will just wait for the organization to deploy me. I am ready to go anywhere the ANC wants to send me,” he said.

According to Mdaka, reaching a level where the ANC deployed him as executive mayor in the first place was not a privilege, but an honor for him. Although Mdaka could not reveal where the ANC was taking him, he told members of the media he would still be a resident of Vhembe. He said he managed to stabilize the municipality´s administration, which was not in a good state when he was appointed executive mayor.

Ms Rumani, who hails from Masakona in the Makado municipal area, is the deputy-secretary of the ANC in the Vhembe region. She has served as a councillor at the Makhado Municipality. She also served in various ANC structures, including the ANC Youth league.