The swearing-in of KwaZulu-Natal's new Premier, Thami Ntuli, has drawn mixed reactions from some members of the provincial unity government. Ntuli took the oath in Pietermaritzburg to mark the taking of the provincial unity government to power in the province.
The provincial unity government, made up of the ANC, IFP, DA and NFP, elected him as premier last week. ANC provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said she was optimistic that the GPU would ensure the people of KwaZulu-Natal benefit from better service delivery.
“As the ANC, we are very happy. I think the premier has done everything we agreed to do. What's important now is to ensure that service delivery becomes the buzzword. Our MECs have to work hard to roll out service delivery. We expect the GPU to ensure that the people of KZN benefit from service delivery.”
But the state's Umkhonto we'Sizwe (MK) party has said it will not accept the GPU in its current form, which will occupy an opposition seat despite winning the most votes in last month's election.
“As the opposition we reject what is happening in KwaZulu-Natal and we are not happy. We are not happy because if you look at the number of seats MK has won, they have 37 seats and the IFP follows with 14. The IFP, ANC and DA sat together and formed a government without letting us, the majority, lead the discussion. They did this because they wanted to push a government through the back door simply because it was rejected by the people of KwaZulu-Natal,” said MK's Siphiwe Mbatha.
Video: Thami Ntuli sworn in as KwaZulu-Natal Premier
