MAHIKENG MAIL-MAHIKENG: The Judge President of the Mahikeng High Court, Judge Ronald Deon Hendricks presided over the first Legislature House Sitting wherein Members of the Provincial Legislature were sworn-in and Desbo Mohono was elected as the new Speaker of the Legislature.
Kagiso Lazarus Mokgosi was elected as the new Premier of the North West Province where else, Tshepo George Khoza was also elected as the new Deputy Speaker, Motlalepula Rosho as the Chief Whip of the House and Tebogo Modise as Chairperson of Chairpersons of Committees.
All Presiding Officers were nominated and elected unopposed.
The nomination and election of the Speaker; Deputy Speaker; Chief Whip of the House and Premier was conducted in terms of Section 107 read with Section 111(1), Section 128(2) and Section 129 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The House Sitting also nominated the Permanent Delegates to the National Council of Provinces and voted for the new Chairperson of the NCOP. Political parties represented in the Legislature include African National Congress (23 MPLs), Economic Freedom Fighters (7 MPLs), Democratic Alliance (5 MPLs), Umkhonto weSizwe Party (1 MPL), Action SA (1 MPL) and Freedom Front Plus (1 MPL). The newly elected Speaker of the Legislature, Mohono welcomed her election and thanked those who entrusted her with the responsibility of the oversight arm of government. “I thank my political party and all the Members of the Legislature who saw it fit for me to lead this important institution that does not only play an oversight on the Executive but also performs public participation and facilitate law-making processes within the North West Province,” said Mohono. In his welcome Mokgosi said he expected the 7th administration to devote themselves to the preamble of the constitution, which commits them all to heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights.
“No time will be wasted with new plans where none is required. The North West has the largest youth unemployment in the country. Youth jobs will be the focus of the seventh administration. The first item of the seventh administration will be the roll-out of the Labour Activation Programme coordinated by the Office of the Premier in partnership with Department of Labour and Employment, business, employer organisations and other social partners. “We will break all remaining barriers to open the public service for employment opportunities for young people, in particular graduates. Gate keeping, bias and nepotism in departments will not be tolerated. We will transform our public service into a delivery machine that reflects the demography of our province and the spread of its skills and talent,” said PremierMokgosi
