Willies Mchunu was set to be elected premier of KwaZulu-Natal by the KwaZulu-Natal legislature on Wednesday.

Mchunu, who previously held the position of MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, will replace Senzo Mchunu who resigned on Monday.

Both men are members of the African National Congress (ANC), which instructed Senzo Mchunu to resign and decided he would be replaced by Willies Mchunu as the new premier of the province.

A special session of the legislature, in which the ANC holds the majority of the seats, was due to sit on Wednesday to elect the new premier.

It was not immediately clear if other parties would field candidates. It was also not immediately clear if Mchunu would be sworn in Wednesday by the province’s judge president, Judge Achmat Jappie.

Statements released by the office of the premi‎er and the African National Congress both said that he would be sworn in “soon after”.