DURBAN - THE Premier of KwaZulu-Natal has called for political stability to prevail in the matters concerning former president Jacob Zuma.
In a recent engagement with the media, Sihle Zikalala said it was important for the ANC, and the country as a whole, to unite against the challenges South Africa faced.
The premier pronounced, and sought to make clear, that “in KZN, we want a united ANC. In fact, we owe South Africa a united, pragmatic ANC. Even though there are issues in the movement with the former president, we are clear on those issues and we are all in support that the law must prevail.
“We need to engage and have an approach that is able to bring stability. We must avoid instability at all costs, both in KZN and in South Africa as a whole,” said Zikalala.
He added that while he was very aware of the challenges facing the country – including gross inequality, mass unemployment and the Covid-19 pandemic – he stressed the importance of solving issues in a manner that would ensure the country remained stable.
“We want to be clear in KZN that we need a united, pragmatic ANC; a united organisation that respects itself, that respects its policies but that is also able to implement them. So unity for us is paramount,” said the premier.
Zikalala also said that in KZN, economic growth and transformation went hand in hand and the economy needed to be transformed to include those who had been previously excluded.
“In KZN, we do not only talk about economic growth. It is economic growth and transformation. If we are to revive the economy, it must also be transformed to include those who were marginalised into the mainstream of the economy.
“We have to attain that prosperity through reviving the economy, transforming the economy and ensuring that we all protect institutions, but also balance with the interests of our country. And the immediate interest we are facing is to deal with unemployment, ensure economic growth and transformation.
“We must unite our efforts to address our immediate challenges that have affected the economy. We need to ensure that we have an economy that works for the people; an economy that creates jobs, that changes the ownership patterns that we have inherited.”
Daily News