Today’s special Sitting of the KZN Legislature on the DORA Bill exposed deep divisions within the MK Party and raised serious concerns for the people of this province.
The Sitting began with the Finance portfolio committee chairperson presenting the report on the Bill, followed by contributions from political parties represented in the legislature. With all parties previously supporting the Bill during committee debates, a short debate and voting process was anticipated.
The first MKP speaker, Slindile Seme supported the Bill and even agreed with the DA’s financial governance principles. However, when recently ousted MKP Chief Whip, Mervyn Dirks, took to the floor he launched a scathing attack on the Bill, cutting across Seme’s sentiments. Dirks concluded by stating that the MKP rejected the Bill with the ‘contempt it deserved’.
When voting took place, the confusion amongst MKP self–appointed commanders reached new levels. Newly-minted Chief Whip Bonginkosi Mngadi – the umpteenth individual in this role in one year – then proclaimed that the MKP now supported the Bill.
At this point, KZN Legislature Speaker, Nontembeko Boyce, asked whether any Members wanted to exercise a private vote. No sooner had she said this, Dirks jumped back in leading a band of rebel faction of MKP members who voted against the Bill.
This level of confusion within the ranks of KZN’s main opposition party is both concerning and revealing. It reveals that there is no effective opposition in the KZN Legislature. Instead, it is the DA that can continue to claim this role, by holding the GPU to account from within. The voting fiasco has also shown that there is a rebel faction within a divided MKP caucus, no doubt due to muddled messages from Nkandla.
Finally, and most importantly, today’s events have exposed that the concept of MKP governing KZN would be a farce and disastrous for the people of our province.
Not for the first time, the claim that the DA within KZN’s Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) has rescued our province, has been proven true. The DA will remain at the forefront of principled and ethical financial governance in pursuit of a better future for all KZN’s people.