4 November 1996
Following allegations of corruption and nepotism, Free State Provincial Premier Patrick "Terror" Lekota and the entire Provincial Executive Committee resigned. The African National Congress (ANC) was concerned that the Executive Committee was creating a sharp division within the provincial leadership of the party. First vice-President Thabo Mbeki endorsed Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri as Lekota's successor. Click here to read more on the controversy surrounding Lekota and his Executive Committee's resignation. Sources: Books: Kalley, J. A. et al (1999). Southern African Political History: A Chronology of Key Political Events from Independence to Mid-1997, Greenwood: London, p. 552. Links: