(The following Speech was delivered during a Sitting of the KZN Legislature today)
There are moments in life when history pauses – not to ask who shouted the loudest, but to ask who stood firm when it mattered most. Kuleso sikhathi lapho umlando ume khona, sibuzwa umbuzo owodwa: ngubani owaba nesibindi sokuma.
Today is such a moment.
This Motion of No Confidence (MoNC) is not merely a procedural exercise. It is a test of judgment. It is a test of memory. And above all, it is a test of whether we understand what it takes to rebuild a province that was left fractured, indebted, and exhausted. Because reconstruction is never dramatic. Progress is never instant. Responsible governance is rarely loud.
Eighteen months ago, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) stood at the edge of institutional fatigue. Provincial government departments were hollowed out. Finances were precarious. Public trust had been eroded by years of drift, delay, and disappointment.
Kodwa esikhundleni sokubalekela izindawo zokunethezeka kwezepolitiki, amaqembu akhetha ukubambisana.
They chose cooperation over convenience. They chose unity over ego. They chose the hard work of rebuilding over the ease of oppositional theatre. That choice became the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU).
Today, we are asked to pretend that nothing has changed – to ignore evidence, to dismiss progress, to destabilise what is finally beginning to function. Siyenqaba lokho.
In Public Works and Infrastructure, a department long synonymous with stagnation, something remarkable occurred. The language of excuses was replaced with the language of accountability. Debt was collected. Contractors were paid. Abandoned properties were audited, reclaimed, and repurposed – not for symbolism, but for service delivery. Projects once frozen by intimidation and criminal syndicates began to move again. Transparency returned to procurement. Confidence returned to infrastructure delivery. Lokhu akusiyo inkulumo-ze. Lokhu ukuphatha.
In provincial Treasury, fiscal discipline was restored where disorder had become normalised. Audit outcomes improved. Supplier confidence stabilised. Most importantly, the public purse was protected – not by rhetoric, but by restraint.
In Health, leadership left boardrooms and entered hospitals. Clinics improved. Outcomes improved. Maternal mortality declined. TB cure rates increased. Lezi akuzona izibalo nje. Ziyizimpilo zabantu.
We are not where we need to be – but we have made progress. Premier Thami Ntuli has led – not as a partisan commander – but as a constitutional steward. Ubuholi abumayelana nomsindo, kodwa ngobuqotho nokuzinza.
KZN does not need permanent mobilisation. It needs permanent administration.
Lokho akusona esinye isixazululo — kuyingozi.
Unity does not mean uniformity. This government is not perfect. But it is functional. It is reforming. And it is accountable.
The DA rejects the MoNC. We stand with Premier Thami Ntuli. We stand with the Government of Provincial Unity. We stand with the people of KZN.
Ngiyabonga.