Sithole announced as DA's premier candidate for Mpumalanga
The Democratic Alliances' (DA) Mpumalanga provincial leader, Jane Sithole, has been announced as the provincial premier candidate.
The announcement was made by party leader Mmusi Maimane on Thursday.
Sithole says she is humbled to be chosen as the party’s candidate ahead of next year’s elections.
She adds her first task, should the DA take over the government in the province, would be to tackle youth unemployment.
"A lot of our young people are unemployed, we have got the highest rate of unemployment which is even more than the national figure countrywide, so it important that we focus on jobs," says Sithole.
She believes reviving the once vibrant tourism industry in the province will lead to job creation.
She plans to do away with the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA) which was established by former premier and now the country's David Mabuza.
Sithole says the agency only "sucked" money out of the province's coffers without producing sustainable development.
"You disband MEGA you save millions immediately."
She adds corruption in the province will be one primary task to unroot in the area.
"People that have been caught with evidence of corruption, nothing has happened to them."
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