The nomination of Job Mokgoro as North West Premier candidate is a small stop-gap measure to the disastrous service delivery crisis caused by the African National Congress (ANC), the Congress of the People (Cope) said on Thursday.

"The rot of corruption, power mongering and self preservation is so endemic to the point of paralysis that governance had to be pushed to the brink of collapse. While Mr. Mokgoro is a credible veteran professional and academic, he will have to swim in the cesspit created by the ANC. He will consistently find himself in the middle of a debilitating and raging war  between two greedy factions of the ANC," said Cope chairperson Pakes Dikgetsi.

"It is revealing that the corrupt ANC has no confidence within its current crop of leaders that it had to resort to bringing an outsider to salvage a dysfunctional administration and to placate the anger of the people of North West," he said.

ANC secretary general Ace Magashule on Thursday, announced Mokgoro as the premier candidate for North West, this after former provincial premier Supra Mahumapelo resigned on May 23.

Mahumapelo, who is the ANC provincial chairperson, said they would support Mokgoro.

"We want to confirm this today, that as the PEC [provincial executive committee], we will be supporting unashamedly, without any ambiguousness, we will support the new premier who is deployed by the ANC..."

He said Mokgoro was an excellent administrator.

Mokgoro is expected to be sworn in and be elected premier on Friday.

The Forum 4 Service Delivery (F4SD) welcomed the appointment of Mokgoro as new premier of North West.

"We, as the F4SD, have been crying to let academics and seasoned administrator play a critical role in politics.

"However, we as F4SD, the vehicle of good governance, we will be watching every service delivery step of the Prof, especially that he will taking over the province whereby more than two key departments are under administration. Prof Job will be highly expected to heal the wounds of more than 13 municipalities which are currently bleeding," said F4SD president Mbahare Kekana.