DA threatens to expose KZN premier’s ‘corruption’

DA threatens to expose KZN premier’s ‘corruption’

Durban — The DA in KwaZulu-Natal has accused Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube of diverting funds from her office to a project that was to benefit her politically.

Unveiling its first digital election billboard in Durban on Friday, DA premier candidate Chris Pappas said he had obtained a document with proof that Dube-Ncube had abused her position “for political gains”.

Pappas said he would reveal full details to the public in the next two weeks. He said the information was given to him by concerned staff at the premier’s office.

“We are not only here to launch our election billboards across the province but I’m here to reveal that, in the next two weeks, I will be making public documents that show that the premier has abused state resources for political gains.

“These documents were leaked to me by officials inside the government,” said Pappas.

The premier’s spokesperson, Bongi Gwala, said the premier did not know what the DA was talking about and would therefore wait for Pappas to make that information public.

“We don’t know what Pappas is talking about so let’s wait for him to reveal that and we will take it from there,” said Gwala.

Earlier in the day, Pappas unveiled the DA’s six-point plan which he said the party would use to rescue the province.

The first priorities of a government under his premiership would be to fire senior managers, including directors-general, who were hired through the ANC’s cadre deployment policy, as well as strengthening supply chain and human resources sections, he said.

He also vowed to conduct skills and lifestyle audits, saying that when the DA took over in the Umngeni Local Municipality eight senior managers resigned because they feared they would be exposed by the skills audit.

The party will bring experts from the Western Cape where it has been governing for more than a decade to strengthen the governance systems in the province, he said.

The DA will also improve performance and accountability, and remove major blockages in water, roads, electricity and sanitation.

Under the DA, a special focus on local government would be undertaken and it would place eThekwini Municipality under administration.

The party also promised to respect and restore the Zulu kingdom’s dignity and depoliticise it to boost tourism.

The DA leader in KZN, Francois Rodgers, said the party was willing to form a minority government if it failed to win an outright majority to govern alone. He ruled out any working relationship with the EFF and the ANC in its current form.

The DA has already sealed a deal with the IFP to co-govern the province. Both parties are part of the Multi-Party Charter which was established by the DA on a national level.

Rodgers said its latest poll survey revealed that the ANC would get 30% of the vote in the province. The DA was also banking on the MK Party backed by former president Jacob Zuma to assist in dislodging the ANC.

Last week during the DA’s national election manifesto, the party’s national leader, John Steenhuisen, said the emergence of the MK Party would favour the opposition and enhance its chances of removing the ANC as the MK Party would eat into ANC votes.

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