Johnathan Paoli
Former Mpumalanga Premier Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane has been elected as the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).
At the sitting of Parliament’s second house on Saturday at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Mtsweni-Tsipane was elected unopposed following the swearing-in of delegates for the council.
Mtsweni-Tsipane was nominated by Northern Cape ANC delegates and newly-elected NCOP Chief Whip Kenneth Moiemang during the proceedings overseen by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
The former premier thanked delegates for the support and outlined the strategic programmes involving the council.
Speaking ahead of the voting, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula expressed his confidence in the party’s candidate for the position of speaker.
“As the ANC, we want our country to be stable. Yes, Refilwe is our candidate and we are grateful for that, gender to us is very important,” Mbalula said.
The NCOP consists of 90 provincial delegates, with each province equally represented by 10 delegates, collectively referred to as provincial delegations.
The ten delegates constitute a single delegation, however, irrespective of the political parties each delegate represents.
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