The MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) in KwaZulu-Natal, Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi, has been temporarily stopped in his spirited bid to relocate the department’s traditional affairs division to Ulundi.
The opening was billed for Thursday, 5 December 2024, but it was halted after Premier Thami Ntuli intervened.
Ntuli said the halting would be until the government of provincial unity involving the IFP, ANC, DA and the National Freedom Party (NFP) is satisfied that all legal processes were followed.
“As the provincial government, we realised that there are some outstanding issues that we need to iron out so that all the prescribed laws are followed and everyone agrees with the government regarding the move.
“In consultation with the MEC, we decided that the opening of the offices should be postponed. However, that does not mean that the opening of the offices will not happen,” Ntuli told the media in Richmond in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands on Wednesday morning, adding that there are no major impediments except that they have to follow all legal processes.
The opening was supposed to be presided over by King Misuzulu KaZwelithini of the Zulu nation. Buthelezi is also the traditional prime minister of the king and the Zulu nation.
Buthelezi’s decision to move the provincial government offices to Ulundi, the original capital of the Zulu kingdom, irked the ANC which felt that he was overstepping the mark. The ANC lobbied other GPU partners to have him stopped.
The offices are going to be housed at the old Ulundi legislature building which was abandoned in 2004 when the ANC together with its coalition partners of the time, the UDM and the Minority Front, decided to ditch Ulundi as a joint capital and moved everything to Pietermaritzburg.
However, the Kwazulu-Natal MEC for Finance, Francois Rodgers sang a different tune by saying there is a cap on the number of offices MECs can have.
“We welcome the intervention by the Premier. He has correctly pointed out that legislation has placed a limit on the number of offices an MEC may have.
“The Premier’s decision has been taken in recognition of legislation and in the interests of the people of KwaZulu-Natal,” Rodgers said.
