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MURDER ACCUSED MAYOR GETS TOP JOB

POPULAR MAN: Bushbuckridge executive mayor Milton Morema has been elected chairman of the ANC's Bohlabela region. Pic. Riot Hlatshwayo. 12/10/08. © Sowetan.
POPULAR MAN: Bushbuckridge executive mayor Milton Morema has been elected chairman of the ANC's Bohlabela region. Pic. Riot Hlatshwayo. 12/10/08. © Sowetan.

Riot Hlatshwayo

Riot Hlatshwayo

Milton Morema, executive mayor of Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga, has been elected unopposed as chairman of the ANC in the Bohlabela regionon Saturday.

Morema, who was a regional secretary before Saturday's election, is taking over from Clifford Mkansi, who is now the ANC's provincial treasurer.

Sowetan has it on good authority that Mkansi might take over from health MEC Fish Mahlalela as head of the department.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that information," ANC provincial spokesman Paul Mbenyane said yesterday.

"I was at the last provincial working committee meeting but such a move was not discussed."

But he confirmed that five officials, including Morema, and 15 additional members, were elected unopposed during the Bohlabela regional conference.

Mandla Ndlovu, the chief whip of Ehlanzeni district municipality, has been elected regional secretary.

"We will be concentrating mostly on next year's general elections and make sure that we unify our structures," Ndlovu said.

Meanwhile, the Pretoria high court was yesterday expected to hear submissions from the state and Morema's legal representatives on whether the murder charges against him and two others should be reinstated.

But the matter was postponed to tomorrow.

Morema, Luckios Mosoma and Erasmus Makhubele were arrested and charged with the 2003 murder of Jeffrey Sedibe, a hitman who was allegedly hired to kill Motion Mashile, a teacher who police claim had political differences with Morema.

The matter was struck off the roll after a magistrate ruled that the arrests were politically motivated.

A damning report by a police superintendent has lent credence to claims that there was a political plot to instigate the arrests, especially that of Morema.

The report implicated health MEC Fish Mahlalela and former finance MEC Jacques Modipane as instigators of the plot.

They allegedly approached a police officer and urged him to investigate Morema because of his perceived support of ANC president Jacob Zuma.

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