NW COGHSTA MEC appoints controversial ANC Cadres to interim NWHC Board

Note to Broadcasters: Please find linked soundbites in English and Afrikaans by CJ Steyl MPL.

The DA notes, with dismay, the announcement by North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi, appointing an Interim Board to the North West Housing Corporation (NWHC).

Six of the eight interim board members have political ties to the ANC. It is evident that the purpose of these appointments was to secure jobs for ANC cadres rather than attract skilled, qualified and experienced professionals to strengthen governance at the NWHC towards delivering on the entity’s mandate.

The Interim NWHC Board announced by MEC Molapisi is nothing but blatant cadre deployment.

The interim board members are:

1. Dr Manketsi Mamoabi Emily Tlhape: Previously served as an ANC member of Parliament and the North West Provincial Legislature from 2013 to 2024;
2. Mr Kabelo Daniel Mataboge: Former ANC member of the North West Provincial Legislature from 2021 to 2024;
3. Ms Wendy Joy Nelson: Former ANC MP from 2009 to 2014 and a member of the North West Provincial Legislature from 2014 to 2019. Served as North West MEC for Tourism and MEC for Finance;
4. Ms Dikeledi Moagi
5. Mr Ntobo Damelord Samuel Tsagae
6. Ms Saboeng Sarah Nkatlo: Former ANC Councillor and Speaker of the Maquassi Hills Local Municipality;
7. Mr Seatlathebe Ephraim Lepomane: Known to have worked at the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality and has known ties to the ANC;
8. Ms Nomtsama Lenah Miga: Former ANC Councillor and Mayor in the Mahikeng Local Municipality and a member of the North West Provincial Legislature from 2020 to 2024. Also served as MEC for COGHSTA and Deputy Speaker.

The interim board is politically compromised, with most of its members aligned to the ANC. It brings into question whether this interim board will be able to implement and maintain good governance at the NWHC in line with the Companies Act and King 4 principles or whether it will continue to advance the ANC’s party-political mandate. The two are clearly at odds, considering the disastrous state the NWHC finds itself in.

In the case of the NWHC, the political mandate is misaligned, completely dismissive of the current realities the North West faces in respect of homelessness.

Both MEC Molapisi and the NWHC remain hellbent on building mega and smart cities in North West, despite the ever-reducing funding available to fund core service delivery mandates like Health, Education, Public Works, Roads and Economic Development.

All North West cities, towns, dorpies and villages are at an advanced state of general infrastructure decay. It would be best to rebuild these existing settlements rather than launch vanity projects like smart or mega cities.

The NWHC Act, as it currently stands, extends no mandate to the NWHC to build anything at all. Despite this legal reality, there appears to be no concern whatsoever in the proposed build of mega and smart cities by the NWHC to the tune of R74 billion – almost R20 billion more than the total annual budget of the North West Provincial Government.

During the nine wasted years under former President Jacob Zuma, boards of entities were filled with ANC cadres that pushed an agenda of looting and party political interest, which saw entities like Eskom, Denel, PetroSA, the Post Office, SAA and a host of other state-owned companies fold, unable to deliver key services, leaving these entities bankrupt, dumping South Africa into economic hardship, a hardship that continues to deny millions of South Africans the services and economic opportunities they are entitled to.

One would have thought that the ANC of today would have learnt valuable lessons from the era of state capture and the electoral losses they have suffered in 2024 and would start doing things in the interest of residents rather than pursuing the interests of ANC cadres.

The DA in North West rejects the appointment of this interim board, and we will continue to advocate for the appointment of individuals who hold the requisite skills, experience and qualifications to serve as board members.

We will also question MEC Molapisi in the Standing Committee on Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs on how he identified these individuals and what his reasoning is behind their appointments, and specifically, which individuals were excluded from his consideration.

We will not allow the NWHC to remain just another entity that seeks to reward compromised ANC cadres instead of serving the residents of North West.