OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Friday 11.00am.
THE coalition government of the Inkatha Freedom Party and the African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal was committed to co-ordination and co-operation on all issues, the newly appointed provincial premier Lionel Mtshali said on Friday.
Speaking shortly after being sworn in as premier, Mtshali said: “Our shared responsibility for the future of KwaZulu-Natal requires that we work together across both sides and segments of the aisle.” Mtshali won the premiership race by 67 votes to the Democratic Party’s Roger Burrows, who got eight votes. One ballot was blank and another spoilt.
The coalition government would not ignore contributions by other political parties in the province, Mtshali said, adding challenges facing the province affected people on all levels.
The levels of crime and unemployment and the quality of education were top priorities, he said.
Mtshali called for the promotion of a new spirit of partnership among all stake holders in the province.
He appointed the ANC’s Dumisane Makhaye as housing MEC and Michael Mabuya Khulu as economic development and tourism MEC — the portfolio previously occupied by Jacob Zuma, now South Africa’s Deputy President.
Friday 11.00am
THE African National Congress on Thursday withdrew its candidate for the premiership of KwaZulu-Natal, leaving the leadership of the divided province to the rival Inkatha Freedom Party.
“In the interests of good governance … and as a gesture of goodwill, the ANC withdraws its candidature for the position of the premier of KwaZulu-Natal,” the party said in a statement.
The announcement came after President Thabo Mbeki made known his new 29-member cabinet and it became clear that IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi was not to be deputy head of state.
Buthelezi had been offered the post by Mbeki but on condition that his party allowed the ANC’s S’bu Ndebele to become the premier of the province, which has seen years of bloody feuding between the ANC and IFP.
With Buthelezi rejecting the offer and the ANC withdrawing Ndebele’s nomination, the IFP’s Lionel Mtshali is now the only candidate to lead the province.
It means that seven of South Africa’s nine provinces will have ANC premiers at the helm, despite the party’s big victory in the June 2 general elections.
The ANC won a narrow majority in the Western Cape province, but was sidelined in the provincial government when three smaller parties formed a coalition.
In KwaZulu-Natal the ANC won 32 seats in the provincial legislature compared to the Zulu-nationalist IFP’s 34.
The two parties, which signed a peace accord in KwaZulu-Natal before the election, have decided to form a coalition government in the province. — AFP