Election of North West Premier cancelled

6 June 2018

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is not surprised that the election of the North West Premier has been postponed until further notice.

This follows the cancellation of a special sitting that was convened for Friday 8 June 2018for the sole purpose of filling the vacancy of a Premier.

In terms of Section 128 of the Constitution, subsection 3 “an election to fill a vacancy in the Office of the Premier must be held at a time and on a date determined by the President of the Constitutional Court, but not later than 30 days after the vacancy occurs". The Judge President of the North West High Court, Honourable Madam Justice Monica Leeuw had indicated to the Legislature her availability on Friday to swear in the newly elected Premier.

The North West has been without a Premier for almost a month since former Premier Supra Mahumapelo’s initial resignation. The DA is therefore concerned that awaiting a next possible date for the swearing in of a new Premier will take up too much time.

The Inter-Ministerial Task Team (IMTT) has done little has done litte to bring order to the province, and it will remain in shambles without a Premier and with Supra Mahumapelo as the Chairperson of the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC).

The DA has lodged a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application to the Office of the President requesting a report on the IMTT’s findings. It is a disgrace that since the IMTT’s appointment in April, no engagement has been arranged with key stakeholders such as the legislative arm of the North West Government.

Following the cancellation of the special sitting scheduled for Friday to elect a new Premier, members of the Provincial Legislature have received an invitation from the Speaker’s Office to meet with the Convenor of the Inter-Ministerial Task Team (IMTT), Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on Thursday instead.

The DA welcomes the decision of the Speaker affording Legislature the opportunity to be addressed by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. We call upon Dr Dlamini-Zuma to also make use of this opportunity to make known the long-awaited findings of what has transpired in the North West and what actions has been taken to address these findings.

Once this report has been made known, the DA will ask questions on the roles of both former Premier Supra Mahumapelo and Acting Premier, Wendy Nelson in the total collapse of service delivery due to their alleged ties with the notorious Guptas.

Issued by Joe McGluwa, DA North West Provincial Leader, 6 June 2018