With KwaZulu-Natal still reeling from the impact of last year’s deadly floods, which damaged critical infrastructure in the province, the newly appointed Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Sihle Zikalala is the right person for the job?
Having been dogged by the controversy to put the family above the people during the KZN state of emergency – which admitted to order tankers to deliver water to private homes – Zikalala “is not a top player”, said independent political analyst Sandile Swana.
“Sihle has been handsomely rewarded by President Cyril Ramaphosa with one of the most senior and powerful posts in the Cabinet…a political reward. This is an opportunity he should use to clean up his act.”
“The people of KZN have not forgotten their behavior during the floods, when they put themselves first and not the people – which caused their popularity to drop in their own province,” Swana said.
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He said Zikalala’s work was “obvious”.
“The opportunity is there to do something concrete and real, because our infrastructure is in trouble.
“The question will be whether Ramaphosa and [Finance Minister Enoch] Godongwana has set aside a budget for the work that needs to be done.
Policy expert Dr Nkosikhulule Nyembezi said the growing corruption scandal and deepening economic problems could divert Zikalala’s focus from service delivery to concentrating on next year’s polls.