Former North West premier Supra Mahumapelo is seen at a press conference at Luthuli House, 23 May 2018, where he announced that he would be going on early retirement, thus leaving his post as premier of the North West Province. Picture: Michel Bega
Former North West premier Supra Mahumapelo will give newly appointed premier Job Mokgoro the benefit of the doubt and has pledged not to judge him.
He told The Citizen after his swearing in as an ANC MP in the National Assembly that he supported Mokgoro.
“I said this before any name of any person was raised that I will support and go with whoever the ANC chose,” he said. “We have to judge people on their performance and not on who they are closer to or they are related to.”
Mahumapelo resigned as North West premier last year amid protests by residents who called for improved service delivery. The mass action in which businesses were looted, burned and property vandalised, stopped once Mahumapelo stepped down. He also resigned as ANC provincial chairperson along with his provincial executive committee.
President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Mokgoro, a former civil servant and academic, to run the province both as premier and ANC chairperson. But the PEC defied Luthuli House and challenged the party in the high court, which subsequently decided the old leadership must be reinstated.
After the 2019 election, Mokgoro was appointed yet again. Mahumapelo reacted to Mokgoro’s appointment saying it was important that he must give him the benefit of doubt.
“Judge them on their performance, that’s what we need to do in this country. So the same must happen to Job Mokgoro,” he said.
Asked if he would play a role to unite different ANC factions in North West, Mahumapelo said it would be crucial to do that. “Unity is like a road that is perpetually under construction, you always work on it. I will continue to play a role in making sure that we contribute to the strengthening of the ANC in the province,” he said.
About his own redeployment to parliament, the politician said it was part of the ANC discipline to obey the party instructions.
“The ANC runs our lives. I am not the first and I am not the last. The ANC will always deploy its cadres where it thinks they can best serve the society of South Africa.”
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