Despite surviving a near-death experience when her house was torched, allegedly by disgruntled residents, receiving death threats and being warned to resign, former PSJ mayor Nomvuzo Mlombile-Cingo’s fervent wish was always to see the “crown jewel of the Wild Coast” become the first smart city in the country.
Mlombile-Cingo, who resigned recently, was sworn in as a councillor in the Mthatha-based OR Tambo district municipality on Monday.
She served as PSJ mayor from 2018.
Just hours after taking the oath, she said: “PSJ has everything and is located in a strategic place.
“There are at least 11 untouched beaches, which augurs well for the oceans economy.
“And then you have cannabis and there is an airstrip where you can have flights from Mthatha instead of people driving to the town.
“There’s talk of a harbour and the much-anticipated Sanral N2 toll road stretching from KwaZulu-Natal to East London will also go past PSJ.”
PSJ also had the right climate for wide-scale vegetable and fruit production, she said.
When she was deployed from the Eastern Cape provincial legislature, where she had served as chair of the standing committee on rural development, to take over as mayor in 2018, the former schoolteacher almost turned down the job.
At the time, service delivery had completely ground to a halt for two years, with employees at loggerheads with management.
She had previously worked as a manager in the municipality between 2008 and 2010 before going to the provincial legislature.
“I used to see in the news how the municipality [was not in a good place] so I was not 100% sure I could turn the situation around.
“I found a town littered with rubbish. Even the municipal offices at the town hall were littered with waste.
“Employees were on strike and the municipality was operating on an underfunded budget while service delivery projects like roads and electrification had become stagnant.
“I never imagined I would go there, but I had to respect the wishes of my party, the ANC, which always teaches us to be public servants.”
Ironically, her replacement at the legislature was Oscar Mabuyane, who would later ascend to the position of ANC provincial chair and Eastern Cape premier.
When she was unveiled as the new PSJ mayor in 2018, replacing Lindelwa Rolobile, provincial ANC secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi was quoted as saying: “In six months we expect radical changes and the town will be clean, as well as for there to be evidence of investment in infrastructure development ... we are very positive.”
Despite the daunting challenge, she was able to unite councillors and staff as well as the local community and has been credited for bringing stability to the municipality.
She said this was because it was so important to have everyone functioning and moving in the same direction to achieve her goal.
“[As a mayor]you cannot claim personal victories.
“You may be clever, but you need employees on board and you are dealing with budgets and IDPs and so you need to unite councillors so that work can be done.
“If you don’t work with the community,you will go nowhere.
“I tried to show [disgruntled]municipal employees] that their grievances could not be resolved at once. Some were short-term, others midterm and others long-term issues.
“I said we could not negotiate while the town was dirty, so we all embarked on cleaning up the town first.”
She said being mayor of a troubled municipality had taught her a few things.
It had been challenging and a learning curve because when communities protested and complained, they were not fighting an individual but rather demanding services due to them.
The job had been tough, but it had taught her to be patient and to be a good listener.
It had also taught her humility.
“When they refer to us as honourable, it is the people we serve who are honourable.
“We are carrying their honour. We are servants, thus we must listen and remain humble even if they insult us sometimes.
“I would not change the experience for anything,” Mlombile-Cingo said.
She described the torching of her home in 2022 as her lowest point.
Some family elders were so worried that they asked her to quit. But her husband and children and other family members told her to persevere.
At the time of the incident, she told the Dispatch that there had been a meeting where it was said people from PSJ should be prioritised and the managers who were appointed should be people who are born in the area. Failing which, she should resign.
She however quickly learnt there were no permanent friends or enemies in politics and even managed to forgive all those who were reportedly behind trying to get rid of her.
She credited her forgiving nature to her upbringing, as her father was a church minister.
And despite the ups and downs, she said she was happy to leave the municipality with a healthy budget and a string of properties it had managed to purchase.
Roads were also in an impeccable condition and the municipality had managed to procure its own road maintenance plant.
The municipality had also completed three community halls during her tenure as mayor while nine bridges were being constructed, three of them by the municipality.
Overall, the performance of the municipality had boosted investor confidence in PSJ, she said.
“Investors are showing a lot of promise.
“I hope the incoming leadership will be able to take over the baton ... We are servants, you try to serve in your corner.
“It is not about the title you have but about the mission.
“I am here [OR Tambo district municipality] to serve the people.”
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