(The Speech below was delivered in the KZN Legislature earlier today)
Today’s KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Motion of No Confidence (MoNC) is not a principled stand. It is a contradiction disguised as accountability, and nowhere are those contradictions clearer than in the conduct and positions of the MK Party (MKP) itself.
The MKP expects us to believe it is acting in the interests of stability – yet everything about this motion undermines stability.
The most obvious contradiction is that the MKP campaigns on the language of unity, liberation and people-centred governance. Yet here in KZN it brings a motion designed to collapse a functioning provincial executive – without offering a replacement government, a programme of action, or a budget framework. Nothing, lutho, dololo.
The MKP cannot claim to stand for the people while deliberately engineering uncertainty that threatens services, jobs and investment.
The MKP accuses Premier Thami Ntuli of instability. Yet it is the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) – which MK has consistently criticised – that has:
• Ensured uninterrupted governance
• Passed budgets on time
• Stabilised departments
• Established a financial recovery plan
• Created political stability
• Increased investor confidence and;
• Kept this Legislature functioning.
The contradiction is clear. This MK MONC condemns the systems and mechanisms that have brought about stability. A further contradiction lies in MK’s rhetoric on corruption and accountability.
The MK Party speaks loudly about clean governance, yet this motion presents:
• No finding of misconduct against the Premier
• No adverse audit outcome
• No court judgment and;
• No evidence of constitutional failure
Accusations of poor accountability without evidence is nothing more than absurd political theatre. If MK were serious about clean governance, they would engage through oversight committees, audit processes and portfolio scrutiny – not through a motion designed to destabilise our government.
MK claims to speak for the poor and working class. Yet this motion threatens:
• Infrastructure spending through executive disruption
• Service delivery timelines through administrative paralysis
• Investor confidence in a province already under economic pressure
Let us speak about leadership. The MKP argues that Premier Ntuli lacks legitimacy, yet:
• He was elected constitutionally by this House
• He leads a multi-party executive reflecting the will of voters and
• He governs through cooperation rather than coercion.
At the same time, MK refuses to say how it would govern differently – or with whom. Lutho, dololo.
The MKP reject coalition governance yet offer no outright majority of their own. They did not obtain an outright majority. This is not leadership, its evading realism.
There is a deep contradiction in MK’s posture on stability. The same MK Party that warns about unrest, instability and social fracture now proposes a motion that would:
• Remove a Premier without cause
• Trigger executive uncertainty and;
• Re-open political contestation in a fragile province.
KZN knows the cost of instability. We all have a responsibility not to repeat that history, lest we forget the scars of the July 2021 insurrection.
Turning to empirical evidence – under Premier Ntuli and the GPU we have:
• On-time budgets and plans
• Improved expenditure consistency
• Stronger procurement oversight
• Better interdepartmental coordination
• Renewed engagement with business and civil society
• Improved investor confidence.
• A reduction in unemployment, above that of the National trend.
These are measurable governance outcomes, unambiguous. MK offers none in return – only contradiction.
This motion tells us far more about the MK Party than it does about the Premier. It exposes a party that:
• Demands accountability without evidence.
• Criticises governance without offering an alternative.
KZN and its people deserve better.
Premier Thami Ntuli has governed with restraint, inclusivity and discipline. He has delivered stability where instability was expected, and cooperation where conflict was predicted.
To support the MKP MoNC would be to reward contradiction and punish responsible leadership, that has managed to achieve positive evidence-based outcomes.
Today, members of this House must choose between responsible governance and divisive theatrical politics. Between a Premier who has stabilised KZN and a motion built on contradiction, conjecture and political opportunism. Premier Thami Ntuli has not failed this province – he has held it together.
To support this motion would be to place ambition above accountability, disruption above delivery, and politics above the people of KZN. For that reason, and in the clear interests of stability, jobs and service delivery, this House must reject this motion decisively and stand on the side of leadership that governs, not agitates.