Development agency welcomes new CEO
THE Alfred Nzo Development Agency (ANDA) has recently announced the appointment of Lumko Mtimde as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Mtimde, who hails from Mvenyane in Matatiele, will bring to the agency a vast amount of experience as a former special advisor to the Minister in the Presidency and former special advisor to the Minister of Employment and Labour.
He is a long-serving councillor of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) and Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and a long-serving CEO of the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA).
He served as a board member at SABC, SENTECH, NSFAS, Brand SA, MICTSETA, ANDA, Ingwe TVET College council, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) council committees, Ekurhuleni Housing Company (EHC) and Eastern Cape Provincial Arts and Culture Council (ECPACC).
ANDA acts as an operational arm of the municipality for purposes of implementing economic, social and environmental policies and projects within the district and implements local economic development initiatives that stimulate economic growth and job creation.
Furthermore, Mtimde served the government at senior level as chief of staff for the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and chief director responsible for broadcasting policy in the Ministry of Communications. He is also the former CEO of Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA), founding member (and first CEO) of the National Community Radio Forum (NCRF), president of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) Africa, vice-president of AMARC International and the founder of South Africa’s first community radio, Bush Radio, and the community radio movement. In 2014, he was inducted into the MTN Radio Awards Hall of Fame.
The agency continues to transform the economic outlook of the district through the following initiatives: sheep farming, macadamia nuts, cannabis and hemp production, fresh produce industry development, skills development projects targeting youth, industrial parks, agri-voltaic, coffee plantation and other trade and investment initiatives.
Welcoming the CEO, Alfred Nzo District Municipality mayor Vukile Mhlelembana said that Mtimde brings vast experience in leadership, corporate governance and executive management to the task ahead.
This was affirmed by the ANDA board chairperson Ntombi Mabude as she was introducing Mtimde to the ANDA.
Mabude called on all stakeholders to work together in support of the new leadership in pursuit of the ANDA mandate.
