COSATU in the province congratulates Comrade Kaobitsa Bushy Maape on being elected Premier of the North West Province. We hope that the ANC in the province has learned some valuable lessons after the latest debacle over the Premiership of the province. 

 We urge the new Premier to adopt a people-centered approach that will focus on improving the delivery of public services and helping with economic growth. 

The Federation insists on the convening of a Provincial Economic Summit to reflect on the state of our provincial economy, the impact of Covid-19 on it, and explore possible solutions. 

The provincial government needs to do everything possible to alleviate unemployment and reduce poverty levels in the province. 

The Premier should work to honour the commitments of the 2019 ANC Elections Manifesto and not be distracted by factional politics.

Our municipalities are dysfunctional and in a state of near collapse. This is the coalface of service delivery, and the provincial government must do everything to fix them and rehabilitate them from being used as battlegrounds of factional infighting. 

The Federation will continue to be constructive partners in the quest to improve the living standards of the people of the North West. But none of this will be possible if the demon of corruption is not exorcised out of the provincial government. 

We also reiterate our call on workers and citizens to vaccinate. Covid-19 is strangling the economy and worsening the levels of poverty. South Africans should also adhere to the non-pharmaceutical measures of combating Covid-19 by wearing our masks, washing hands, and sanitizing. 

For more information, please contact the COSATU North West Provincial Secretary, Cde Kopano Konopi at 082 339 5836 or kopano@cosatu.org.za.