Newly-elected African National Congress (ANC) Mpumalanga chairperson Mandla Ndlovu, who, upon election exactly a month ago, revealed that he needed a paying job as he was unemployed, is set to get a reprieve from job-hunting.

On Tuesday morning the Mpumalanga provincial executive committed (PEC) announced that Ndlovu would be a member of the provincial legislature.

A statement from the PEC following its meeting over the weekend said: 

The PEC resolved to replenish the province to province list to include the newly elected Provincial Chairperson, Comrade Mandla Ndlovu, after the resignation from the Legislature of the newly elected Provincial Secretary comrade Muzi Chirwa.

In an exclusive interview with News24, shortly after being elected, the soft-spoken Ndlovu revealed that he was unemployed and looking for a paying job as being elected as provincial chairperson did not come with a salary. 

"I am unemployed and looking for a job," said Ndlovu, who joked that he studied communications and would not mind working at News24.

Ndlovu previously worked as a teacher before leaving the profession to focus on politics. However, given that the only position in the top five of the ANC in the province that comes with a salary is that of provincial security, which Chirwa then occupied, Ndlovu was still actively looking for a paying job. 

Now that he is a member of the legislature, he is expected to take home a little over R1.1 million a year, as per the Government Remuneration Packages for April 2021 to March 2022.

Also bolstering the party in the legislature was the announcement that the PEC had also appointed Jennet Thabethe to the position of the deputy speaker of the house, since it had been vacant for some time.

Another change the PEC announced was that of a new spokesperson in Ngelosi Ndlovu, a PEC member who will speak on behalf of the organisation in the province.

"The ANC congratulates her on her new responsibilities in assisting in pulling the organisation and society together," said the executive committee statement. 

The PEC also announced that the provincial ANC would host a political induction for the PEC and regional executive committee members for three days from 4 to 6 May 2022. 

"National executive committee members will conduct the induction. The induction will include... the presentation of some of the policy documents such as organisational renewal as well as the ANC 2022 Programme of Action and Mass Political Education Rollout," read the statement.