The African National Congress (ANC) deputy secretary-general Thandi Modise has been appointed the new Premier of her home province, North West, the Provincial Task Team (PTT) said on Friday.

"We are presenting a cadre who will take this province to a higher level," spokesperson Saki Mofokeng said.

He said that they believed the out-going Premier Maureen Modiselle had laid a solid foundation for stability in the province.

"We appeal to our people to support her [Modise] as head of government," he said.

Modise who has been the speaker of the North West province, cut her teeth in politics in 1976, as a student. She was jailed for ten years for fighting the apartheid regime.

She crossed the borders into Angola to train as a guerilla soldier for the emerging military wing of the ANC, Umkonto we Sizwe (MK).

Having undergone military and political training, she was the first woman sent back to fight and organise in the townships.

She has been a member of the ANC Women's League executive committee since 1994 and held the post of deputy president until 1997.

She was previously the chair of the portfolio committee on defence and the joint standing committee on defence in parliament.

Mofokeng said that the reshuffling of the provincial cabinet was the Premier's prerogative, and she would made that announcement if there was a need for it.