By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
KZN Finance MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube has been chosen as the premier candidate following Sihle Zikalala’s resignation.
The African National Congress (ANC) made the announcement on Monday morning during a media briefing in Durban.
Zikalala stepped down from office last Friday after three years in the post.
Party provincial secretary, Bheki Mtolo said: “Today it is our great pleasure to announce to you Comrade Nomusa Dube-Ncube as the premier nominee. She’s not new in the leadership position as she’s served in various positions in the organisation and in government.”
“As a liberation movement, we have rejected the notion that women get relegated to second-class citizens.
“In this leadership, you will understand that women comrades are not mere numbers, as you might have also noticed during the ninth provincial elective conference when, for the first time, delegates made history by electing our deputy chairperson, comrade Gugu Simelane,” Mtolo said.
Mtolo added the party believed that having a woman premier “will also ensure that we up the ante in dealing with the issues of service delivery”.
Dube-Ncube beat KZN members of the provincial legislature, Mbali Fraser and Amanda Bani, for the position after the ANC interviewed them on Saturday.
If elected in the provincial legislature as the next premier, Dube-Ncube will make history as the first woman to occupy the position since South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994.
Dube-Ncube said “a plan of action regarding her duties was yet to be formulated, but that the ANC’s policies and mandate would guide her.”
Her interview with national ANC leaders for the position of premier was rigorous, she said.
“The interview was quite intense. It took more than an hour, and it really dealt with the policies the ANC is seeking to achieve, including economic growth and eradication of poverty.”
Dube-Ncube said she would work hard for the province and would not let the public down.
She was born and raised in KwaMashu north of Durban, Dube-Ncube grew up in the ANC ranks and has held various senior positions in the party including deputy secretary and treasurer positions which she held until two weeks ago at the conference.
She holds a National Diploma in Public Management, Management and Leadership, training and development from the Durban University of Technology and a Master’s degree in Public Administration, which she obtained at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Her first government senior position came as the mayor of the North Central Local Council before the local authority of Durban was amalgamated with several others to form what is now known as the eThekwini Municipality of which she was subsequently appointed as the speaker in 2000.