Durban - Current KwaZulu-Natal premier Senzo Mchunu has received the backing of the SA Communist Party in the province.
At a press conference in Durban on Monday, SACP provincial secretary Themba Mthembu said that while it accepted that the appointment of provincial premiers was the president's prerogative, the SACP saw no reason to change the premier.
“The SACP sees no need to change the premier in the province as he has just been in that position for eight months and nothing adverse has been committed by him to warrant replacement.”
Mchunu was appointed to the position after former premier Zweli Mkhize stepped down to be come national treasurer of the African National Congress on a full-time basis last August.
Mthembu said the decision to back Mchunu had been reached over the weekend at a provincial executive committee meeting.
The SACP had noted during the election that minorities had moved their support away from the ruling ANC and this was a matter for concern.
“We are deeply concerned about this happening and we always have to grapple with the fact that minorities find it difficult to accept the leadership of the ANC.”
He said whereas the two major coloured communities - Wentworth and Sydenham - had historically been pro-ANC, in the May 7
election they had backed the Democratic Alliance.
“They have moved en mass to the DA. We need to find the right formula and engage with those communities. This is eating into us.”
He said the SACP in the province would like to see the provincial government implement policies in the next five years that were more biased towards the poor.
Sapa