Kagiso Lazarus Mokgosi has been sworn-in as the new Premier of the North West. Mokgosi, who is also the African National Congress (ANC) Deputy Chairperson, was elected unopposed at the first sitting of the Provincial Legislature in Mahikeng.
During his acceptance speech, Mokgosi said the next five years offers the government an opportunity to build on the foundations of the 6th administration.
“We’re not a new government, there’s been governments in this province, so we’ll take over from the 6th administration. The policies, the plans and the resources to scale up the delivery services are available, and few would require some small changes. No time would be wasted with new plans where none is required,” said Mokgosi.
He acknowledged the high rate of unemployment in the province, particularly amongst the youth. The new Premier emphasised that youth jobs would be the focus of the 7th administration.
“If you don’t talk about youth employment, you don’t talk to me and the province. The first item of the 7th administration would be to roll out of a labour activation programme, which would be coordinated by the office of the Premier, this would be in partnership with the department of labour and employment, with business, employers’ organisations and other social partners. We would break all the remaining barriers, and open public servants for employment for young people, in particular graduates,” stressed Mokgosi.
Mokgosi had a stern warning for the province’s municipalities and state-owned enterprises.
“We want our municipalities to work, we want them to deliver uninterrupted services to our people, the time for excuses is over. We would share with the public, interventions in the local government sector after consultation with legislated institutions and forums in the coming weeks. All provincial state-owned entities should just through their existence deliver on their developmental mandate of this province,” explained Mokgosi.
Some of Premier’s promises include the transformation of the public service, modernisation of governance, expanded access to service delivery.
Mokgosi also announced that a Provincial Economy Investment Job Summit would be held later this year, to craft a clear economic plan for the province.
The new Premier said the new Members of the Executive Council would be announced next week.
Meanwhile, former Agriculture and Rural Development MEC Desbo Mohono was elected as Speaker of the Provincial Legislature, while Tshepo George Khoza was elected as her deputy.
