Youth League plans welcome home party for axed ministers
THE ANC Youth League (ANCYL) will hold a “welcome back” rally for the two former Northern Cape ministers – former minister of transport Dipuo Peters and former minister of energy Tina JoematPettersson – at the Northern Cape Theatre at 4pm today.
Both Peters and JoematPettersson resigned as Members of Parliament after they were chopped from the national cabinet by President Jacob Zuma during a surprise midnight reshuffle earlier this month.
ANCYL provincial secretary Neo Maneng pointed out that the former ministers were not excluded from Zuma’s cabinet because of any question marks placed on their skills or abilities.
“Peters and Joemat-Pettersson were two of the most hard working ministers in the entire cabinet. They were not axed because they were incompetent. The reason why we are welcoming them back is simple - they did a great job during their deployment,” said Mwaneng.
He added that Peters and JoematPettersson had served as ANCYL leaders.
Maneng said that they were hoping for ANC acting provincial chairman Kenny Mmoiemang as well as a speaker from the ANC Women’s League to deliver the main speeches at the event.
“We are expecting more than 5 00 people to welcome the two ministers back home,” said Maneng.
He was unable to confirm whether Peters and JoematPettersson would be permanently relocating back to Kimberley.
“Those are personal details. We have also not discussed the possibility of Peters and JoematPettersson being absorbed into the Province either in government or politics, as they are both still ANC National Executive Committee members.”
The ANCYL has previously pledged its support for the “Premier League” led by ANC treasurer and Premier Sylvia Lucas in the campaign leading up to the provincial elective conference, which is scheduled to take place in Colesberg from May 11 to 14.