Ward 4 Councillor David Coltart has been elected the new mayor of Bulawayo, with Ward 9 Councillor Donaldson Mabuto as his deputy.
The two were unanimously elected by all councillors at a meeting on Monday.
In his acceptance speech, Coltart said he would adopt a zero-tolerance approach to corruption and set up a hotline for residents to report any corrupt activities.
“We are all conscious of the allegations of corruption hovering around our city,” he said. “What I want to undertake today as mayor is I will adopt a zero-tolerance attitude towards corruption. That is directed to all my councillors, each one of you, there will be zero tolerance approach. It will not be hidden. This also applies to full-time members of council staff.”
“One of the things we will do is set up a hotline, manned by an independent person, accessible to all Bulawayo people, so that whistleblowers can phone in and advise us of corruption, or attempted corruption. These will be investigated in a fair manner, because unless we deal with this cancer, we cannot develop our city. So we are all under notice, I will adopt this approach and I believe I have the full support of councillors.”
Deputy Mayor Mabuto said he was ready to work with Coltart and the city council to improve the welfare of Bulawayo.
“I reiterate that once one has been appointed to lead, they should do so in a non-partisan manner and that is how we intend to run the city,” he said.
The election of Coltart and Mabuto marks a new era for Bulawayo, which has been mired in corruption and mismanagement for many years. The two men have pledged to clean up the city and make it a better place for all its residents.
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