POLOKWANE – The contest for the ANC Limpopo’s chairperson turned into a one-horse race when public works MEC, Dickson Masemola, withdrew at the eleventh hour.
This withdrawal allowed the province’s premier, Stanley Mathabatha, to take the position of chairperson uncontested at the ANC’s provincial conference that was held at the University of Limpopo over the weekend.
Masemola’s withdrawal came after he discovered he had not received enough nominations to run for office prior to the elections.
He decided to withdraw and not to campaign further.
The position of treasurer went uncontested to Thembi Nwendamutswu.
The former South African ambassador to Zimbabwe, Jerry Ndou, was elected as the new deputy chairperson.
This was a position tipped to go to Joe Maswanganyi.
Nocks Seabi, the suspended Limpopo Tourism and Parks CEO, was elected secretary while Makoma Makhurupetji was elected as his deputy.
In his address as the newly-elected ANC chairperson, Mathabatha said he could never allow the ANC not to develop and forge ahead just because of the devastating effects that tribalism and factionalism had on the party and its members.
He said the ANC in Limpopo’s key task should and would be to build unity and stability in the ANC.
“When a provincial executive committee member is deployed to address a meeting in the branch or region, he or she should not cause any factionalism.
“Avoid becoming a member of another member’s faction, be a member of the ANC. The morale is growing again in Limpopo,” Mathabatha said.
Falaza Mdaka who was chairperson of the ANC’s provincial task team and one of the 30 members elected, said the disbanded administration misused money and left only R750 in the ANC’s purse.
He said it had not been an easy task to rebuild the ANC in the province, but the task team had worked hard for 11 months until there was unity and stability.
