North West Premier, Maureen Modiselle today (Monday) sacked her provincial MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture Grace Bothman, with immediate effect, for defiance and showing disrespect and disdain to the highest office in the province.
Current MEC for Finance, Louisa Mabe, was appointed to act while processes to find a replacement are yet to be finalised.
Confirming the dismissal as member of the provincial Executive Council during a media briefing in Mafikeng today, Modiselle said Bothman demonstrated a behavior which could be "very detrimental and catastrophic" to service delivery if it was embedded in the highest offices of government.
Modiselle hinted that her tough action against Bothman, received blessings from "other structures" following consultations a series of meetings over the weekend.
She said she was convinced her "bold decision" was: "Taken in the interest of service delivery and good governance in the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. Not for selfservice but to serving communities of the province".
Modiselle also confirmed that she has ordered an external audit into allegations of misuse of state funds and the reported irregular awarding of tenders in the department.
This she said was because "of the severity of the allegations". Modiselle said the audit findings and recommendations would be made public because "this matter has generated a lot of public interest".
Bothman, alias Pampiri, was among the 10 MECs sworn in as MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture on 8 May 2009, five of whom were women then. She is the first MEC to get the chop under Modiselle's term of office as premier but the second since the firing after 1994 of the first former MEC for Education, Mmamokwena Gaoretelelwe.
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Matshube Mfoloe
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