The swearing-in of the new KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli has been met with mixed reactions from some members of the Government of Provincial Unity. Ntuli was sworn in, in Pietermaritzburg, marking a takeover in the province for the Government of Provincial Unity.
The Government of Provincial Unity comprising the ANC, the IFP, the DA and the NFP elected him as premier last week. The ANC’s provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele says he is optimistic that the GPU will ensure that people of KwaZulu-Natal benefit from service delivery.
“As the ANC, we are quite happy. I think the premier has implemented all we had agreed upon. What is important now is to ensure that the buzzword should be service delivery. Our MEC must work hard to roll out service delivery. We are hopeful that the GPU will ensure that people of KZN benefit from service delivery,”
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party in the province, however, says it will not accept the GPU in its current form. The party will occupy the opposition benches despite securing the most votes in last month’s polls.
“We reject what is happening in KwaZulu-Natal as an opposition and we are not happy. We are not happy because if you can check the numbers the MK has got, 37 seats followed by the IFP with 14 seats. The IFP, ANC and the DA sat together and formed a government without letting us as the majority to lead the discussion. They did that because they wanted to put the government through the back door simply because they were rejected by the people of KwaZulu-Natal,” says MK party’s Siphiwe Mbatha.
Video: Swearing-in of Thami Ntuli as KZN Premier
