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KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala has committed his administration to working closely with King Goodwill Zwelithini in accelerating service delivery and transformation in the province.

Premier Zikalala made the commitment while speaking at Osuthu Royal Palace in Nongoma where he officially introduced the provincial executive and the leadership of the provincial legislature to His Majesty.

“We appreciate the opportunity that His Majesty the king has created for us to engage with him. This opportunity comes as we start to implement the mandate we received from the electorate during the recent elections. During our engagement with His Majesty today we briefly presented what we think should be done to take the province to greater heights and His Majesty also gave us counsel on how he thinks some of the challenges facing the province should be resolved” said Premier Zikalala.

The Premier said the king was an important figure in the province who had played a leading role in the province’s programmes including peace initiatives, programmes aimed at curbing the spread of HIV/Aids and in a number of education programmes.

“It is important that as we begin the 6th administration we strengthen our relationship and we work together with His Majesty to ensure that we fastrack transformation.”

Premier Zikalala said there will be many other engagements with other strategic sectors such as traditional leaders, the business community, religious leaders, academia and the diplomatic corps.

His Majesty commended the gesture by the Premier and his provincial executive saying this was the first step in the right direction towards even better working relations between the royal household and the executive.

Addressing the executive, the king said advised the administration to take the public on board whenever decisions are made. “Never leave the people behind, no matter how poor they are always involve them,” the king said.

Issued by the Office of the Premier