The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the North West on Monday deemed President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision to put the provincial government under administration as an extremely delayed response to an urgent and serious matter and called on Ramaphosa to immediately recall Premier Supra Mahumapelo.

Ramaphosa wrote to the National Council of Provinces informing it that the national executive would be taking over the administration of the entire North West province government.

This follows violent protests in the past weeks by community members protesting for the removal of Mahumapelo and his subsequent decision to take a leave of absence.

The DA said while placing a province under administration was aimed at restoring stability and ensuring that governance deficits were dealt with, the DA said Ramaphosa was using the Constitution to deal with a political impasse ­– his lack of support in the African National Congress to recall Mahumapelo.

“Mahumapelo has allowed the province to become gold for the connected few while the majority suffer under extreme poverty,” stated the DA.

The DA called on Ramaphosa to give a clear indication of the role that MECs and the acting Premier will play while the province was under administration and also to reveal what role Mahumapelo will play, as he was still the chairperson of the ANC in the province.