Championing women to play a meaningful role in governance is a key priority for CLGF. This is why CLGF is so thrilled to learn of the new role of Ms Thembi Nkadimeng, as Deputy Minister of the South Africa national department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA).

Youngest member

Ms Nkadimeng, who was the President of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), replaces Obed Bapela and, at 48, and is one of the youngest members of the national executive. Despite her youth, she impressively boasts many years of experience in public service, having held various leadership positions in the Limpopo ANC before being elected Polokwane mayor in 2014.

Champion of women in local government

Ms Nkadimeng is also the chair of CLGF's global network – the Commonwealth Women in Local Government network (ComWLG). The network is dedicated to supporting women standing for election to local government, and also performing their duties successfully, while in office. ComWLG brings together individual country chapters of women's networks, to look at practical strategies to increase the number of women participating in local government, but also offers an important platform to look at the key issues – systemic challenges and barriers – impacting on women’s ability to participate equally in planning and decision-making in local communities across the Commonwealth.   

Sworn in at a ceremony presided over by South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, and acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo earlier this week, after a cabinet reshuffle, the new members of the executive are tasked with strengthening the capacity of the state to deliver.

Empowering women

CLGF’s acting Secretary-General, Ms Lucy Slack, said: “I should like to congratulate our ComWLG Chairperson on her new role, and on behalf of the Commonwealth local government family we wish her every success. She is a strong advocate for gender equality and I know she will continue to champion this and the work of the network in her new position."   

CLGF is a local government membership organisation but, uniquely, has members representing all spheres of the sector: councils, associations and national governments. COGTA is also a member of CLGF so we look forward to continuing to work closely with the Deputy Minister.  Read our latest bulletin and the interview with the Chair of ComWLG.

Month of Mentoring campaign

One of the current activities of the ComWLG is the Month of Mentoring. Research commissioned on mentoring has established the clear contribution that it can make to increasing the number of women participating in local government politics and will be published at the end of this month. Find out more about this campaign; take part yourself by promoting the campaign yourself, and/or holding your own dialogue, locally. The dedicated web page contains all the resources you need to do this. 

Image courtesy of: COGTA and SALGA