Pretoria - Thandi Modise, ANC Deputy Secretary-General, has been sworn in as the new Premier of North West.
"Indeed the North West province has got a new Premier in Comrade Thandi Modise," said Saki Mofokeng, a member of the ANC's Provincial Task Team deployed to manage the province's affairs.
Mofokeng said the leadership of the ANC had confidence in Modise's capabilities to carry out her new responsibilities.
Modise, who hails from the North West, replaces Maureen Modiselle who was removed from the position following a provincial Cabinet reshuffle.
She has served as chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence as well as Speaker of the North West Provincial legislature.
Cosatu in the North West has welcomed Modise's appointment expressing hope that the reshuffle would address the service delivery challenges facing the province.
North West has been plagued with challenges of corruption and service delivery protests in recent months prompting Luthuli House to put the province under administration. Several officials have been either suspended or fired since Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Sicelo Shiceka came down heavy on corruption in that province.
"Cosatu wants to request the new Premier to make sure that legal processes must follow those who were implicated in corrupt activities and the tax-payers' money must be recovered," the trade union federation said.
According to the ANC, she had been a member of the party's Women's Executive Committee since 1994 and she held the post of Deputy President until 1997. As a teenager, she criss-crossed the borders into Angola to train as a guerilla soldier for the emerging military wing of the ANC, Umkonto we Sizwe (MK).
Having undergone military and political training, she was the first woman sent back to fight and organise the movement in the townships.
