Newly elected KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli. Photo: Mbuso Kunene
noNewly elected KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli has announced her coalition government's determination to intervene in the province's municipalities which are on the brink of collapse.
Ntuli on Friday said service delivery was the priority for Cabinet, whose composition will be announced on Tuesday, and work on provincial government should begin immediately.
Ntuli was elected Premier of KwaZulu-Natal after his party, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), and its provincial coalition partners swept all the seats in parliament.
The coalition of the IFP, ANC, Democratic Alliance (DA) and National Liberal Party (NFP) won the elections for prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker by a margin of 41 out of 80 votes.
The Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, which has 37 seats in parliament, has fielded candidates for all three posts backed by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which has two seats.
The ANC's Nothembeko Boyce was elected speaker, beating MK's Marvin Dirks by an equal margin, with the DA's Mmabatho Thembe becoming deputy speaker.
Ntuli also pledged the province's continuing support for Zulu monarch MissZulu ka Zwelithini, whose budget is funded by the KwaZulu-Natal government through the Department of the Crown.
“One thing we all know is that we all support the King. This government supports the King. We have no doubt about that,” Ntuli said.
Ntuli said his experience as chairperson of the South African Local Government Association (Salga) and mayor of King Cetshwayo district “will add value to government's efforts to support municipalities”.
He said the state coalition, established following a national agreement between political parties, would be able to manage tensions between the parties and focus on necessary work.
Ntuli said he was “humbled” by the opportunity to serve the people of KwaZulu-Natal and the way the conference was conducted.
“It is an important journey that begins today,” he said, “as we learn from those who came before us who have striven to improve the lives of the people of KwaZulu-Natal and our country,” adding that the work begins “today”.
Ntuli said he would form a provincial cabinet in the coming days, whose composition would be announced when parliament resumes on Tuesday. He said the political parties had a framework agreement on how to operate, which he said would help maintain stability.
“We are confident that with the understanding framework agreement that we have in place, the provincial unity government will be stable,” Ntuli said.
“We have a mature democracy. We have been able to come together with the ANC, which we have always criticised. What was not right is still not right, but we know we have to work together to fix what the people say is not right.”
The parliamentary meeting was marked by a number of disputes raised by Dirks, other MK party members of provincial parliament (MPL) and the EFF's Mongezi Twala, who sought to involve a party agent in the vote counting process.
They also argued that MPLs could see each other's votes, violating the secrecy of the vote, and demanded a recount of the speaker election.
KwaZulu-Natal presiding judge Thoba Poyo Dwathi overruled their decision and allowed court proceedings to continue, with Ntuli being elected just after 7pm on Friday night.
The MK party refused to agree to its state delegation to the National Congress of State, which meets on Saturday morning, resulting in the speaker refusing to sign the mandate.
Dirks refused to congratulate the Prime Minister on his election and accused Poyo Dhruwati of “serious irregularities” in the running of the vote, which set the tone for the next five years.
Dirks said a “gross injustice” had been perpetrated against the people of KwaZulu-Natal in the premier election.
