As the country prepares for the start of the seventh term of the National Assembly and nine provincial assemblies, the ANC in Limpopo says it is ready to elect its next premier.
The party said it took into account both the political and academic background of candidates when recommending a prime ministerial candidate.
Limpopo was one of five provinces where the ANC maintained a majority of over 50%. The Limpopo provincial assembly expanded from 49 to 64 seats, with six parties represented.
For the first time since 1999, six political parties are poised to win seats in the legislature, with newcomers MK and UAT winning one seat each. These six parties will join the ANC, EFF, DA and FFplus, who were also represented in the sixth government.
Former South African National Defence Force member and Polokwane City Council employee Lulami Jack will represent the party in Parliament. By party resolution he will not be attending the first conference. Parliamentary chief elections officer Matlala Malemane explained:
“In Limpopo, we have started [campaigning] “Towards the end of February. We mobilised the whole of Limpopo province and managed to win one seat in Parliament. Our Speaker, Jack Lulami, will be going to Parliament. We must appeal to the government to restore the dignity of the African people, reverse the effects of 1930 and return the land to our chiefs.”
The ANC holds 48 of the 64 seats in the provincial assembly and says it is ready to field candidates for both the speaker and premier posts.
Spokesperson Jimmy Machaka disputed that provincial deputy speaker Florence Radzilani and NEC member Thembi Nkadimeng were interviewed for the premier's position along with Dr Phofi Ramathuba, Basikopo Makami and Nakedi Sibanda Kekana.
“We have not announced two more names as prime ministerial candidates to be interviewed. If such a decision has been taken, we have not been informed by the ANC national leadership, but of course ANC guidelines allow officials to add two more names if the three candidates submitted do not meet the criteria politically or academically.”
Machaka added that the manipulated IEC list, which saw six party members elevated to the top to the detriment of six others, should be corrected before the MPL is sworn in on Friday.
“We expect that the national leadership will give us instructions any time in the future on what needs to be done to restore the ANC leadership list in Limpopo. We expect the leadership to be strong by the time the Limpopo provincial assembly sits. If the issues are not resolved when the assembly sits, there is nothing to stop the ANC from addressing them before or after the provincial assembly sits.”
The EFF won nine seats, up from seven in the previous term. EFF deputy provincial chairperson Lachie Mapah is the only member of the party's six provincial executives represented in provincial parliament. The DA won four seats, up from three previously, and FFplus retained one seat.
