Disbandment of the ANC PEC in KZN will further destabilize the province

16 January 2018

The ANC’s decision to disband it’s PEC in KwaZulu-Natal has the potential to further destabilize the province and ultimately negatively impact service delivery as ongoing internal faction fighting sees the party placed before the state.

The PEC was dissolved in December last year, pending the outcome of an appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal, with the ANC’s national leadership then expected to pave the way forward.

The courts have clearly indicated that the ANC is fractured and broken and the reality is that ‘puppet master Premier’ Sihle Zikalala and his ANC cohorts have already done huge damage to our province. Nowhere is this more evident than in the area of service delivery.

The decision to remunerate iZinduna, an unfunded mandate driven by President Jacob Zuma, is having catastrophic effects on the province’s coffers, with costs that could well run into billions of rands. Yet Zikalala’s faction continue to swear blind allegiance towards Zuma rather than putting the people of KZN first and spending money where they should be – on our schools and our health facilities and improving the lives of our people.

The only thing that the people of our province have received from KZN’s illegal ANC PEC is tired political rhetoric. Certainly they have not received real change.

The DA has long warned the ANC about the severe effect that the lack of unity within the party is likely to have. Yet the protracted leadership battles, played out within the courts, continue as members of both ANC factions continue to cling to whatever power they have as our province becomes increasingly crippled – both financially and on the ground.

The DA will continue to challenge KZN’s ANC through placing workable solutions to the problems facing our province. However, the ultimate power lies with the voters in KZN. 2019 must be the year of new beginnings – one where they remove the ANC by bringing its power base to below 50%.

Issued by Francois Rodgers, Leader of the DA in the KZN Legislature, 16 January 2018