KIMBERLEY, Friday 4 September 2026 — Former Northern Cape Roads and Public Works MEC Fufe Makatong has been elected Speaker of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature, completing a political reshuffle that followed her resignation from Premier Zamani Saul’s executive and weeks of tension within the provincial ANC.
The Northern Cape legislature has officially confirmed Makatong as the new Speaker of the seventh provincial legislature.
She was elected unopposed during a House sitting on 1 September after being nominated by the ANC, according to the DFA.
Northern Cape High Court Judge President Lazarus Pule Tlaletsi presided over the election.
Makatong replaces Newrene Klaaste, who moved in the opposite direction from the legislature into the provincial executive.
Klaaste was appointed MEC for Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural Development and Land Reform during Saul’s August cabinet reshuffle.
The leadership changes followed Makatong’s resignation as Roads and Public Works MEC.
Her departure initially exposed tensions inside the provincial ANC after she cited what she described as improper interference by Saul in the work of her department.
That was Makatong’s allegation and was not established as an independent finding.
The ANC’s provincial leadership initially opposed her resignation and national party officials were deployed to the Northern Cape to mediate the dispute.
Saul eventually accepted Makatong’s resignation on 14 August and reshuffled his executive.
The ANC subsequently indicated that Makatong would become Speaker while remaining the party’s Northern Cape provincial treasurer.
Her election therefore keeps one of the province’s most senior ANC figures in a powerful institutional position despite her departure from the executive.
The Speaker presides over sittings of the provincial legislature and plays a central role in enforcing its rules, managing proceedings and protecting its constitutional oversight role.
Makatong said after her election that the legislature belonged to the people of the province and that communities across Namakwa, John Taolo Gaetsewe, ZF Mgcawu, Frances Baard and Pixley ka Seme should see their interests reflected in its work.
She said she intended to approach the office with fairness and strengthen the legislature’s relationship with communities.
The DA accepted the constitutional validity of Makatong’s election but called on the new Speaker to strengthen oversight of the provincial executive.
The opposition party argued that the composition of the legislature places particular importance on independent and effective oversight.
The Northern Cape legislature is politically more competitive than it was before the 2024 provincial election, increasing the significance of procedural decisions taken by the Speaker.
Makatong’s move from Saul’s executive to the legislature also changes the balance within the ANC provincial leadership ahead of the 4 November local government elections.
The party remains dominant in much of the Northern Cape but faces competition from the DA, EFF and Patriotic Alliance in several municipalities.
The immediate institutional question will be whether the leadership changes stabilise relations between the provincial executive and legislature after the internal ANC dispute surrounding Makatong’s resignation.
