KZN premier Thami Ntuli’s first 100 days in office — how stakeholders rate him

23 Sep 2024

Cosatu has labelled the premier’s government ‘a government of provincial confusion’. Stakeholders weigh in on his performance to date.

Sunday, 22 September marks exactly 100 days since KwaZulu-Natal premier Thami Ntuli was elected to the position in a deeply divided KwaZulu-Natal legislature. It’s a post he won by a single vote – 41 against 39 for the opposition candidate, the MK party’s Phathisizwe Chiliza.

The province Ntuli took over is vastly different, politically at least, from the one he inherited in June.

For starters, he took over from the ANC administration. The party was walloped in the 29 May poll, resulting in its members taking up positions as junior partners in the provincial government.

This is made up of Ntuli’s IFP, which won 18% of the vote (15 seats), the ANC (17%, 14 seats), the DA (14%, 11 seats), and the National Freedom Party (one seat). The MK party, which surprised many by winning 46% of the vote and 37 seats, and the EFF with two seats have been left out.

Priorities

From the outset, Ntuli said his priorities will include dealing with the high levels of crime, including murder; curbing service delivery failures; bringing political stability; creating job opportunities, especially for young people; and ending organised crime syndicates such as construction mafias and protection rackets that are holding communities and businesses to ransom.

He also delinked the province’s public safety portfolio from the transport department and located it in his office, thus allowing him to be at the forefront in the war against crime.

Daily Maverick sent a detailed list of questions to Ntuli’s office this week, but staff there declined to comment, saying the questions were the subject of a planned 100-days-in-office press briefing that had been scheduled for 18 September. It was postponed when Ntuli had to attend a climate change conference in the US starting this weekend.

“The majority of your questions unfortunately talk to exactly what the premier will be addressing the media about on his 100 days in office and therefore responding to your question(s) will be pre-empting [the press conference],” said Bongani Gina, head of communications in Ntuli’s office.

What others say about the premier and his administration

The silence from the premier’s office does not mean other stakeholders are not weighing Ntuli’s performance and that of his administration, which he has labelled a “government of provincial unity”.

Although the Durban Chamber of Commerce, which is by far the biggest business federation in KwaZulu-Natal, declined to comment on the premier and the government’s performance thus far, it has said previously that it is willing to help them to bring about much-needed economic growth.

Read more: KwaZulu-Natal needs cash injection, says premier Ntuli

“The government needs to work closely with business to create a stable and efficient platform for entrepreneurship to thrive,” said Zanele Khomo, the chamber’s chief growth officer.

“Building strong social cohesion goes hand in hand with growing an economy that is inclusive and provides a good quality of life for all the people of the country.”

According to Zakhele Ndlovu, a senior politics lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Ntuli has been “visible” and “providing leadership”.

“One hundred days is far too short to gauge if someone is going to succeed or fail. I think he has been vocal about creating stability and bringing investments and jobs to the province.

“Having said that, I think Ntuli is a very ambitious politician and he has been using the premier’s position to bolster and market himself and the IFP as the party that can be trusted. Whether he succeeds or fails in this will only be clear during the 2026 local government elections,” Ndlovu said.

Labour federation Cosatu did not mince its words, labelling it “a government of provincial confusion”.

Edwin Mkhize, Cosatu’s provincial secretary, said: “The reason we have described this government as such is because it represents different parties, interests and class groups coming together. We have expressed our reservations from the outset during its formation. One hundred days later our assessment still stands.

Read more: KZN premier Thami Ntuli faces huge battles – Hitmen, construction mafias, jobless youth

“Some of these parties and interest groups such as the DA represent a neoliberal agenda that works against the interest of workers and the working class.

“The point we are raising here is that the legitimate government programmes are sometimes abused to profile and advance certain political parties’ interest and that has a potential of compromising service delivery to the masses of our people.”

Desmond D’Sa, a veteran activist in the province whose organisation, the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, is the leading component of the KwaZulu-Natal Civil Society Coalition, said his NGO is taking a wait-and-see approach.

“We welcome the new KZN government and the fact that it has initiated dialogue with different stakeholders… We were part of the delegation that went to see the premier and his government officials.

“It is refreshing that this government, at least initially, is willing to talk to the people and get a different perspective because the previous government was very difficult to get hold of.

“We want a participatory democracy, where the government listens to the people so that it can get solutions to create jobs and end poverty. We need a government that understands that we need to start industrialising and creating jobs here at home. We will be watching the premier and his government to see if they are sticking up to this early promise,” said D’Sa.

Neither the MK party nor the EFF was willing to comment. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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Politics

Priorities

What others say about the premier and his administration