Newly appointed MEC LEDET Rodgers Monama signing an oath while Limpopo Judge President Ephraim Makgoba looks on at Office of the Premier, Polokwane.
The South African Communist Party in Limpopo denounced the axing of three MECs Dickson Masemola, Polly Boshielo and Thandi Moraka, and their replacement by ANC PEC members who have unresolved corruption charges Florence Radzilani, Nakedi Sibanda-Kekana, and Rodgers Monama.
In a statement issued by the provincial secretary Chuene Malebana, the SACP indicted Mathabatha for appointing to his cabinet members linked to investment in the collapsed VBS mutual bank and the inflated Tubatse land purchase by officials in the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs.
Based on their accusations, the SACP calls for the reversal of the appointments and the implementation of all the investigative reports on the illegal VBS investments and the Tubatse land purchase.
The SACP further calls for intervention by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC national leadership.
In conclusion, the party urges the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) and the courts to act with speed and decisiveness in finalizing the VBS and other corruption-related cases in the province.
The SACP says it views the recent cabinet reshuffle as an insult to the poor victims of VBS lootings.
It is for the long time that the SACP and ANC are loggerheads on the accommodation of VBS tainted leaders, including Danny Msiza who is accused to be the kingpin of the back collapse. “It is a matter of public interest that as the SACP we have always protested and marched side by side with the members of the community against VBS looters. Our position has not changed,” the party statement reads in part.
In the build up to the recent ANC Limpopo provincial conference the SACP endorsed the ‘anti-corruption’ slate of Dickson Masemola and Soviet Lekganyane, against Mathabatha’s ‘VBS’ slate. Ironically SACP prominent members like Phophi Ramathuba formed part of the ‘VBS’ slate that went on to win the conference comfortably.
Losers of the provincial conference are the ones who have been haunted out of the executive council and dispersed across legislatures.
Meanwhile Mpumalanga ANC treasurer Mandla Msibi is back in provincial executive council, following a cabinet reshuffle by Premier Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane.
Panyaza Lesufi hit the ground running with a new cabinet and a radical transformation agenda to scrap e-tolls, establish a state bank, fix hospitals, set up a pharmaceutical company, and prioritize the township economy.
The Gauteng executive council under Lesufi has under two years to win back the trust of the people of the province before the 2024 watershed elections and give the ANC a comfortable victory. It is a tough call, but the new premier expressed confidence that with the team at hand he can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.