The push by some opposition parties to move the KwaZulu-Natal provincial back to Ulundi is causing a rift in the house.
This comes as the provincial government builds a new precinct costing more than R6bn, which houses the new legislature. The province spends more than R11m annually on the rental of office space in Pietermaritzburg.
The move, mostly supported by the Inkatha Freedom Party, has received a boost from ActionSA, which also believes the move will ensure the government saves money.
The IFP have stated for years that they have never accepted the decision to relocate the legislature to Pietermaritzburg, and that a move back to Ulundi will enhance the economic development of Zululand.
On Thursday, the party submitted that they believed the late king Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu’s statue must be erected outside the legislature in Ulundi.
This came as the members of the KZN legislature supported the motion to erect the late king’s statue outside the legislature in Pietermaritzburg and remove Queen Victoria.
IFP’s Blessed Gwala said Ulundi is where the statue of King Zwelithini should be erected because Ulundi is where the KwaZulu-Natal legislature should rightly be.
“It is good to see the ANC finally starting to learn from Prince Buthelezi as well. We challenge them, however, to honour the late king appropriately, by placing this statue where it rightly belongs: at the historical seat of governance of the Zulu Kingdom. This statue, and this legislature, belong in Ulundi.
“What we cannot understand, however, is why the ANC wants to put this statue on rented premises when it is already talking about moving the legislature away from this place,” said Gwala.
Gwala said the late king’s statue, the longest reigning king of the Zulu nation, rightly belongs alongside the statue of King Shaka, the founder of the Zulu nation, which stands in Ulundi.
This plan illustrates the dearth of innovative ideas to solve our province’s most pressing needs by this government. What will extra walls and parking lots do to improve the state of governance and service delivery for the people of KZN?
— Zwakele Mncwango, ActionSA KZN provincial chairperson
ActionSA KZN provincial chairperson Zwakele Mncwango said they also support the call to use the state-of-the-art infrastructure already in place in Ulundi.
Mncwango said the province’s willingness to spend so much money was uncalled for when the people of KZN need better housing, water and sanitation infrastructure, and a sustainable energy supply.
“This plan illustrates the dearth of innovative ideas to solve our province’s most pressing needs by this government. What will extra walls and parking lots do to improve the state of governance and service delivery for the people of KZN? Instead, we need public officials who are competent, responsive and up to the task, regardless of where they are based because, quite simply, the people do not care, all they want are the services due to them as guaranteed by the constitution,” he said.
Mncwango said they will be on a public participation campaign to solicit the views of the people of KZN on whether to move the legislature.
KwaZulu-Natal ANC chairperson Siboniso Duma, however, said it was known that with the old precinct in Ulundi, there was a recognition of the distance and geographical location of the building.
Duma said all the political parties at the time agreed Pietermaritzburg was a viable option.
“This is Midlands, and it makes sense that the public works department in KZN is using the old house. With Ulundi, you can still renovate and just continue to do something else that will attract tourists and investment as opposed to it being the legislature,” said Duma.
Duma said the government will continue to make sure they invest more money to make the building a viable tool.
“However, it will never happen in this lifetime that the province will have the Ulundi precinct as an official legislature.”
We are building a new state-of-the-art facility in Pietermaritzburg so that it can accommodate everyone in terms of housing elements.”
DA provincial leader Francois Rodgers said the party was against the move to Ulundi.
“You can say we need to move the legislature to Ulundi, but the big question is, what is the cost going to be? It’s not just a case of ‘up and move’. There are a lot of things to be considered and staff that need to move. We are here, and we are operating perfectly. There is no need to incur additional costs,” said Rodgers.
The National Freedom Party’s Mbali Shinga said the party was engaging in intense discussion over the matter before coming up with a resolution.
Shinga said they do believe the province has serious issues that need financial assistance and redirection of funds.
“There are a lot of issues faced by the province. We need to save money as much as we can to assist our people, and if there is a way we can do that, I believe it is something we can support. But at this stage, we have yet to come up with a resolution,” she said.
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