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Willies Mchunu, the ANC deputy provincial chairperson and KwaZulu-Natal MEC for public safety and transport, has been sworn in as acting premier of KwaZulu-Natal.
Mchunu, a longstanding activist of the governing party and former trade unionist, who has previously acted as speaker of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature, will be formally be elected as premier at a sitting of the house later this week.
A statement issued after a special meeting of the provincial cabinet held this morning said that Mchunu was nominated as acting premier – he replaces Senzo Mchunu (unrelated), who resigned yesterday after being ordered to do so by the ANC – and sworn in by Judge Mjabuliseni Madondo today.
Senzo Mchunu, who had been under pressure to leave office since being ousted as chairperson by then secretary Sihle Zikalala at the ANC provincial conference last November, has been deployed to the National Assembly.
The statement said cabinet thanked Senzo Mchunu for his service and expressed its confidence and support in Willies Mchunu “in taking forward the programme of government and bettering the lives of the people of KwaZulu-Natal”.
Willies Mchunu’s cabinet post is likely to be filled by Mxoloisi Kaunda, a close ally of Zikalala and the current chair of the transport portfolio committee. More changes to the cabinet are expected this week to accommodate Zikalala and other key members of the slate on which he was elected in November.
Zikalala is tipped to take over from Mike Mabuyakhulu as economic development MEC, paving the way for him to stand as the ANC’s premier candidate in the coming general elections.
Mabuyakhulu and other cabinet members who are not on the provincial executive committee have been the target of the Zikalala camp, with the ANC Youth League in particular demanding that they resign along with Senzo Mchunu.
Among those targeted are Peggy Nkonyeni (education), Ntombi Sabhidla Saphetha (arts and culture), Belinda Scott (finance) and Cyril Xaba (agriculture).
However, some members of the provincial executive committee have argued against a large scale cabinet reshuffle ahead of the local government on the grounds that it would be seen as a purge of Senzo Mchunu and his allies and would discourage their supporters from campaigning for the ANC.
A press briefing by the youth league on the redeployment of Senzo Mchunu today was called off, City Press understands after pressure from the mother body, which is trying to deal with the redeployment issue with as little fuss as possible.
An ANC insider said the league had been using the media to back their demands and put pressure on the provincial executive committee.
ANC provincial secretary Super Zuma in a statement said the ANC accepted Senzo Mchunu’s resignation and that its provincial executive committee wished him well.
He said Willies Mchunu had been chosen because of his “seniority, experience and skills demonstrated over many years”.
Zuma said the ANC had met the leadership of its Alliance partners to discuss the decision to ask Senzo Mchunu to stand down.
He called on ANC members and structures to accept the decision and “move in unison” as the elections approached.
