KZN ANC task team a recipe for more disaster

25 January 2018

The appointment of an ANC provincial task team to run KwaZulu-Natal for the next few months is a recipe for disaster and is set to further destabilise governance whilst further fuelling party factionalism. The team was announced at a briefing called by the party's national executive committee on Tuesday afternoon.

It is clear that the ANC in KZN has become so self-absorbed with its own internal power struggles that it has lost focus of its mandate which is to improve the lives of the people of our province.

The current lack of leadership and focus by the ANC within KZN is unprecedented. Meanwhile the imbalance created by the appointment of more members from illegitimate PEC Chairperson, Sihle Zikalala’s faction to the task team is likely to intensify ongoing internal battles.

This is further aggravated by the inclusion of former KZN cabinet members who were fired by the illegitimate administration. Certainly, they will have an axe to grind and are likely to be more interested in their own political agenda’s than the needs of the people of KZN.

The divisions within the ANC in KZN are deeply rooted in the psyche of the province. Self-correction - even under the leadership of Cyril Ramaphosa - is but a distant dream.  The DA in the KZN Legislature is committed to holding the ANC to account on behalf of the people. Nor will we allow the ANC’s public washing of its dirty laundry to impact on our province.

With a national general election in 2019, the people of KZN will have the opportunity to ensure that their rights are placed ahead of politics. The power to elect a party that puts them first and offers a new beginning lies in their hands. That party is the DA.

Issued by Francois Rodgers, Leader of the DA in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, 25 January 2018