Pretoria - Outgoing KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala said he resigned to enhance co-ordination of the government and the ANC in the province but sources insisted he feared the new leadership might humiliate him.
He told a media briefing on Friday: “After thorough consultation I’ve decided to resign as premier of KwaZulu-Natal.
“I have taken this decision conscientiously to allow the movement to go forward.”
The former ANC chairperson in the province handed his resignation letter to new party provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo on Thursday following his recent crushing defeat at the ninth elective conference last month.
Zikalala lost the chairmanship to former ANC Youth League official Siboniso Duma, who announced, through Mtolo, that he had accepted his resignation.
Zikalala was booed and heckled at the conference. He was also booed at last Saturday’s KZN Premier’s Cup football tournament held at Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg.
According to reports, Zikalala offered his resignation after the first provincial provincial executive committee meeting last week. The party is conducting interviews to replace him.
Insiders said the frontrunner for the first citizen of KZN is Nomusa Dube-Ncube, while the names of Amanda Bani and Mbali Fraize were also thrown into the hat.
A senior ANC member in KZN who cannot be named because he has no authority to speak to the media, said Zikalala had consulted with President Cyril Ramaphosa at the national policy conference last week.
He indicated that he would be resigning because he was afraid the newly-elected leadership would humiliate him.
“The new leadership is made up of young people from the ANC Youth League who would want to show their power by controlling Sihle (Zikalala) … and he would have to listen to them or be recalled, which would have been more embarrassing.
“The ANC is also avoiding the two centres of power where decisions would be made by two leaders being the new chairperson (Duma) and the premier (Zikalala). It just doesn’t work that way.”
The ANC in the province said it had accepted the resignation, describing Zikalala’s resignation as painful and difficult, saying his services were still needed.
“The ANC Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) communicated with ANC national officials and were instructed to make recommendations of three names of comrades, who will undergo an interview process. Comrade Zikalala’s tenure has come with a lot of good in the province, including a number of provincial government departments receiving unqualified audit outcomes for the first time.”
The party said a new premier would be sworn in once interviews were concluded and Zikalala’s resignation confirmed by the provincial legislature.
Pretoria News