#KZN Floods: DA calls on Premier Zikalala to step aside

20 April 2022

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Legislature has called on Premier Sihle Zikalala to step aside and for a fully independent investigation into his unethical and misleading conduct during the past week.

The call was made during a Special Sitting of the provincial Legislature earlier today. This as the full horror of the recent floods in our province emerges.

The decision to call for the Premier to step aside and for an independent probe is not one taken lightly by the DA. However, we strongly believe that Premier Zikalala is not fit to lead our province.

This has been evidenced on numerous occasions since he took office in May 2019 and again last week when he again failed to show strong leadership and direction. This as KZN’s people were the victims of floods causing severe loss of lives, homes and businesses. In fact, the Premier’s strongest point at this stage is damage control.

This was evident at the weekend after he was accused of having arranged for a water tanker to be permanently stationed outside his house for his family’s exclusive use. The shocking manipulation was witnessed by numerous credible individuals.

On Monday, the Premier vehemently denied the accusations, claiming that he had arranged it for the community. He then went on to claim that his family had also delivered donations to a neighbouring mosque in a bid to assist citizens.

Earlier today, in a shocking about-turn, he admitted that he had in fact arranged for the tanker to be at his house while offering a pathetic apology and promising that it would never happen again. This is a shocking abuse of power which amounts to theft. What the Premier has done is steal water from the most vulnerable residents of our province.

This is not the first time the Premier has put himself before the people of KZN. One only has to think back to the July 2021 insurrection and the abuse of Covid-19 funds by his provincial government departments.

This begs the questions – who exactly is going to monitor the distribution of funding to the tune of R1billion pledged by the national government to aid flood relief? Can KZN’s people entrust the Premier and his cabinet with the proper distribution of this funding? And can they trust ANC eThekwini leader, Zandile Gumede, to do the same while she is out on bail while facing more than 2 000 fraud and corruption charges?

Then there is the question – who is running our province during this time of crisis? Is it the Premier or is it Zandile Gumede? This after the circulation of an eThekwini Regional Executive Committee document which stipulated that the co-ordination and distribution of all relief aid had to be approved by Gumede and her cronies. This is a clear indication that there are two centres of power in KZN which can only spell more bad news for our province’s people.

What we are witnessing in KZN is the result of years of incompetence and neglect by the ANC. Our people have endured far too much already. They have lost hope. KZN has been destroyed – not by natural elements alone – but by those who claim to be leading it. Today, the DA calls on the Premier to respond to the following;

- Where is KZN’s so-called leadership during this most recent crisis, apart from the few that are trotted out for publicity purposes?
- Where are ANC councillors in the wards they run, during this time of devastation?
- Where are KZN’s disaster management teams? And why is it left to the DA-led Western Cape and others to provide humanitarian aid?
- Why is the ANC in eThekwini allegedly hijacking relief intended for communities and;
- What is the purpose of a provincial government when it cannot be relied upon during a time of crisis?

As the leader of the province, the Premier has a constitutional duty to lead efforts to build a non-racial KwaZulu-Natal through social cohesion, peace and nation-building. Instead, he has fuelled the fire by failing to act as certain communities in our province are side-lined during their hour of need.

The DA has no faith in Premier Zikalala. His reputation is in tatters. More importantly, the people of KZN have no faith in him. The ANC’s reign in KZN is one of disaster from beginning to end while it is left to the people of KZN to fix the province every time we hit a crisis.

As the days turn into weeks, KZN will find itself in the midst of a humanitarian crisis unless provincial government is led by a Premier with a proper plan and who executes it without fear or favour. That man is not Sihle Zikalala and for this very reason he must step aside with immediate effect.

Issued by Francois Rodgers, Leader of the DA in the KZN Legislature, 20 April 2022