Incoming North West premier Bushy Maape says he is ready to serve the community of the troubled province after he was sworn in as a member of the provincial legislature on Wednesday.
“I have been called to serve and I am not called to serve alone. I am called to serve with others and I have agreed to make myself available,” Maape said.
Maape was left idling for two weeks after he was nominated as the successor of former premier Job Mokgoro who delayed his departure insisting on meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa before he left.
During a closed ceremony on Wednesday Maape finally took his seat in the provincial legislature led by speaker Susan Dantjie.
ANC interim provincial committee member Hlomani Chauke said Maape's swearing-in was not a celebration but a response of the ANC to continue in its deployment “to find fine and very clear leadership that will come help government to deliver services to our people”.
He said the ANC was committed to delivering service to its people. Cosatu provincial secretary Kopano Konopi welcomed Maape's swearing-in, saying he hoped the new premier would reposition the province in dealing with unemployment, service delivery and other challenges.
“We hope that in his new role he will focus on making sure that he reposition the province,” Konopi said
Sanco’s provincial chairperson Packet Seaketso said their expectation was that Maape ensures that there is a change in the executive.
“You cannot move with people that might not be up to speed to make sure that the community of the North West are getting proper services as we expected to see that happening in the past and it has never happened,” he said.
South African Communist Party's Madoda Sambatha who served under Mokgoro as MEC called on all members of the legislature to approach the election of premier in a more united non factional way.
“We also welcome Maape not only because it's him but on the basis that the ANC must finally find closure on inability of our province to have unity. If we don’t resolve issues that pertain to service delivery and challenges that people are facing we will not be allowed to lie to our communities,” Sambatha said.
Mokgoro resigned as a member of the legislature on Friday, a day after he resigned as a premier.
He was shown the door 10 days ago by the party’s Interim provincial committee, stating that he had failed to revamp and control the failing municipalities that were not providing services to the communities.
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