The parliament in South Africa has mandated the central government to take over the administration of North West province where riots over corruption forced President Cyril Ramaphosa to cut short his recent trip abroad.
The unrest in the province is one of the first serious challenges which Mr. Ramaphosa, who took office last February with a promise to stamp out corruption, is facing.
Public anger over graft and poor public services in North West province erupted last month with shops looted, cars burnt and protesters clashing with police. President Ramaphosa cut short his trip to the Commonwealth summit in London to deal with the crisis.
North West leader, Supra Mahumapelo, a close ally of ousted former President Jacob Zuma, refused to resign last week despite widespread pressure. Rather, he alleged a conspiracy to remove him on spurious, grounds and took a leave of absence while appointing an ally to serve as acting provincial premier.
The parliament said it had given support to President Ramaphosa to intervene by taking any appropriate steps.
Corruption scandals engulfed the African National Congress, ANC, under President Zuma, who resigned from office after the ANC turned against him.
