PREMIER SHOWS CONFIDENCE IN HER HARD WORKER — RAMATHUBA RETAINS WARHORSE DIKGEREKGERE RACHOENE

ANC Limpopo Provincial Chairperson and Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba celebrating with the people. Her confidence in MEC Rachoene as Provincial Spokesperson and MEC is rooted in results — clean audits, 590 jobs, and roads that move Limpopo.

By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief

The Azanian | Truth. Fearless. Unfiltered.  

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When Limpopo Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba reconfigured her cabinet on 02 September 2026, the headline for many was who is new.

For those who understand delivery, the real headline is who she retained. She retained MEC Tonny Rachoene. Because he is a hard worker. That is the story.

In a strategic realignment to strengthen her cabinet for operational efficiency and service provision — not a purge, not paging anyone, but what government calls a reconfiguration, an adjustment to make the team more agile, focused and ready — Premier Ramathuba kept her most dependable engine at Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure.

And that tells you everything about the kind of leader she is. Dr Ramathuba is not just the first female Premier of Limpopo.

Earlier this year, she also made history as the first female Provincial Chairperson of the ANC in Limpopo. She knows what hard work looks like. She knows who gets things moving.

That is why when she formed her first cabinet after the 7th administration began in July 2024, against the doubters and the Thomases of this world, she appointed Tonny Ernest Rachoene to the biggest and toughest department — Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure. She showed confidence in him. He repaid that confidence with delivery.

Where have you ever seen a leader like this?

This is a man who graduated from the ranks of the ANCYL, where he served as Provincial Chairperson, through the trenches of political struggle, to become what he is today — not only the MEC of the biggest department, but the Head of Communication for the ANC in Limpopo, the Provincial Spokesperson of the ANC.

He IS the voice of the ANC in Limpopo. From ANCYL to PEC member, to MEC, to spokesperson — his is a true political model of a hard worker.

They call him "Dikgerekgere" — the one who gets things moving — and Limpopo now feels it.

This is the MEC who inspires employees to be punctual and to respect their jobs. On 01 August 2026 in Polokwane, he welcomed 140 newly appointed workers into the department — the biggest single intake this year — looking them in the eye and telling them: "You did not get here by chance. You are the face of Public Works. People will judge government by how you treat them, how fast you fix, and how honestly you serve."

Workers left that hall saying they felt direction, energy and support. Lebo from Capricorn said: "The MEC did not just welcome us, he gave us direction."

That is leadership. And the numbers prove the Premier's trust is justified.

DIKGEREKGERE IN ACTION:Not watching from the office — MEC Tonny Rachoene inside a grader on site, leading from the front. This is why Premier Ramathuba showed confidence in him. He doesn't just talk roads, he builds them.

He took a department known for bottlenecks and in just 12 months secured an unqualified clean audit for 2025/26. He has appointed over 590 permanent personnel in 18 months, 350 of them young people, to energize all 36 cost-centres in Vhembe, Mopani, Capricorn, Sekhukhune and Waterberg.

He launched a R26.9 million skills programme with MERSETA and CETA, training 210 young people as artisans.

He established #DikgerekgereWednesdays, where every Wednesday must mean a road graded, a building painted, a community visited. He drove the 21 New Roads initiative, Tsoga Moshomi and an aggressive Stakeholder Revolution that brought traditional leaders, business forums and SMMEs back to the table.

And while doing all that, he went back to school. While juggling cabinet duties and road projects, he earned his Bachelor of Public Administration Honours from MANCOSA in October 2025 — proving that books and politics can mix, and showing Limpopo's youth that a busy schedule is never an excuse. Let us give Tonny his flowers.

The Premier's reconfigured Executive Council — with Basikopo Makamu for Agriculture, Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya for Education, Florence Radzilani for Social Development, Nakedi Kekana for Transport, Dr Tshitereke Matibe for Economic Development, Kgabo Mahoai for Finance, Constance Kupa-Mabuza for Sport, Arts and Culture, Pule Shayi for COGHSTA and Eddie Maila for Health — is a fair and balanced team of ANC PEC members ready to serve.

But at its centre, the Premier kept her warhorse. Because this administration must be characterized by work. And Tonny Phakana Hlabirwa "Dikgerekgere" Rachoene is indeed a hardworker.

A re šomeng!