Lucas was announced as the new Deputy Chairperson of the Council. The announcement of her appointment was made on Monday by the ANC in a statement, where they also announced that Thandi Modise was now the new speaker of the National Assembly (NA), while Tsenoli Lechesa would remain as the Deputy speaker of the Assembly. As the Deputy of the NCOP, which is one of the two houses of parliament, including the NA and seeks to ensure that provincial mandates are taken into account at national government, she will serve under Amos Masondo, who is the chairman of the council. Speaking to OFM News this morning, Lucas says the appointment particularly came as a surprise because she had been in public service for over ten years and told herself that she would perhaps be what she calls a “backbencher” in order to give way to the new incoming leaders the ANC in the province may have chosen into leadership. OFM News’ Pulane Choane reports that Lucas says she is looking forward to both the move to Cape Town as well as the new challenge, which she believes will stretch her abilities.

Responding to her critics who said that this move by the ANC to place her at national level is not a promotion as many would think it is but rather a political move to keep her out the provincial affairs, Lucas says people will always have something to say and these cynical comments, as she calls them, are none of her business, she said. She also added that she believes that this is a new opportunity for her to test her abilities as a public servant as she will now work with a much broader national scope, which will include fostering favourable relations with countries South Africa has bilateral relationships with, as opposed to just provinces, as per her previous position as Premier of the Northern Cape.

 She will serve as one of the 45 permanent delegates in the NCOP, out of the 90 which serve in the council. Meanwhile, the ANC in the Northern Cape as well as several other well-wishing social media users have since taken to Facebook and other social media platforms to congratulate her on the new position. Lucas joined the ANC in 1992 and from 1995 to 2000 served as a councillor for the //Khara Hais Local Municipality, in Upington and in 2000, she was also elected to serve in the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature. Four years later, she was then elected as the chairperson of the ANC in the Northern Cape’s Siyanda region, near Upington. In 2004, she was elected on the provincial executive committee of the ANC in the Northern Cape and also served as the provincial secretary of the ANC Women’s League in the province, following the resignation of the league’s previous secretary, Maykie Dipuo. In 2009, she was appointed as the MEC Environment and Nature Conservation in the Northern Cape and in 2013, she was then appointed as the Premier of the province.

OFM News