The African National Congress (ANC) in the Free State has welcomed the reconfigured executive council after new members were announced on Tuesday. Polediso Motsoeneng, provincial secretary of the ANC, has expressed his party’s satisfaction with the executive’s new look and expressed hopes for reforms from the new cabinet.
Dukwana removed Mamiki Qabathe, William Bulwane, Thembeni Nxangisa, and Montsheng Tsiu from their positions and appointed new people to take their places. The vast majority are provincial executive committee members of  the ANC (PEC).
Health, social development, police, roads, transport, and agriculture were overseen by Tsiu, Qabathe, Bulwane, and Nxangisa, respectively.
With their former boss Ntombela, the four MECs all missed the cut for the PEC.
The new MECs in Dukwana’s government include Makume, the ANC deputy chairperson; Leeto, the provincial treasurer; and Mahlatsi, the deputy secretary.
Speaking for the ANC in the province, Jabu Mbalula said that his party has taken note of and welcomed the reorganization of the executive council.
Among the changes is the promotion of Makalo Mohale, formerly the MEC for Economic, Small Business Development, to the position of Minister of Education, succeeding the late Tate Makgoe. They claim to have a well-rounded executive team, and Motsoeneng agree.
“Right now, we have a number of young and energetic people who have just been appointed, and we anticipate that they will ensure that they expedite and speed up the pace of delivery that we are all expecting. The ANC has had its work cut out for it in terms of how it should deal with the expectations we’ve articulated through our January 8 Statement. And beyond what our province’s Lekgotla has been advocating at the recent Lekgotla we held. According to Motsoeneng, the ANC has certain “priority issues” that its members must address.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Free State says Premier Mxolisi Dukwana has run out of ideas. The change came after Dukwana appointed four new MECs and reshuffled his cabinet. There has been a significant reduction in the number of potential candidates for Dukwana’s executive council, according to the official opposition. Roy Jankielsohn, the provincial leader of the party, says he doesn’t trust a few of the new members of the executive council.
We assumed the newly elected premier would fill his cabinet with more seasoned individuals. In the Free State, we aren’t familiar with many of his cabinet members. They’re newcomers to both the legislature and the portfolio committees. We are very worried that his lack of ideas and his faction’s lack of human capital will have a negative impact on the lives and livelihoods of our people in the Free State,” Jankielsohn says.
