Ramaphosa to meet KwaZulu Natal African National Congress leaders

By Palesa Matlala

• President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet the African National Congress provincial and eThekwini task teams on 3 March 2026 to address challenges in the metro.
• Democratic Alliance mayoral candidate Haniff Hoosen criticised plans to spend R22 million on statues during ongoing water and electricity outages.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is set for a crucial meeting in KwaZulu Natal as political pressure mounts in eThekwini.

He is expected to meet the African National Congress provincial leadership and the eThekwini task team on Tuesday, 3 March 2026.

The meeting comes as the Umkhonto weSizwe Party threatens to take control of the metro in the next local government elections.

Ramaphosa will also meet his eThekwini Presidential Working Group.

The group was appointed under section 154 to help the City deal with serious administrative problems.

These problems led to the collapse of infrastructure a few years ago.

The African National Congress lost its majority in KwaZulu Natal for the first time in the 2024 national elections.

The party was forced to form a coalition government with the Inkatha Freedom Party, Democratic Alliance and National Freedom Party.

The provincial African National Congress says there have been improvements in how the City is run.

It points to the leadership of Mayor Cyril Xaba and the support of the president’s working group.

But opposition parties say many problems remain.

On 27 February 2026, Democratic Alliance mayoral candidate Haniff Hoosen wrote an open letter to Ramaphosa.

He asked the president to cancel a planned unveiling event during his visit.

Hoosen questioned the decision to spend R22 million on statues while residents face ongoing water and electricity outages.

“Mr President, your visit to Durban is welcomed but it must not be about the unveiling of statues. It must be about your working group you appointed. It must hold City officials to account,” said Hoosen.

The meeting on 3 March is expected to focus on governance, service delivery and the political future of eThekwini.

Pictured above: President Cyril Ramaphosa

Image source: Supplied