KZN coalition government on shaky ground as MK looks to muscle in

The KwaZulu-Natal coalition government is facing its biggest existential threat since its formation in June.

Also known as the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU), the coalition was formed by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA) and National Freedom Party (NFP). The uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) were excluded.

At the 29 May elections, MK won 37 seats in the 80-seat KZN legislature, followed by the IFP, which won 15 seats, the ANC (14), the DA (11), the EFF (two) and the NFP (one).

Read more: How Zuma’s MK party ruthlessly outmanoeuvred the ANC in KZN 

MK disputed the election results and delayed coalition talks, which opened the door for the IFP, ANC, DA and NFP to form a government, with a total of 41 seats, which excluded the biggest party in the province.

MK has since upped the tempo in its attempt to gain power in KZN. Last week, it announced that former (ANC) premier Willies Mchunu had been tasked with negotiating with potential partners to form a government headed by MK.

At the weekend, political players held meetings that will decide whether the coalition government collapses or survives.

The ANC is expected to hold a press conference on Monday to announce whether or not it is leaving the provincial government.

“We will be providing a platform where the ANC leadership in KwaZulu-Natal will be dealing with issues of the GPU, our position in it and other related issues. I cannot pre-empt what will be said during that briefing,” said ANC KZN spokesperson Mafika Mndebele.

He refused to answer questions about negotiations that are said to be taking place between ANC leaders in the province and MK leaders, including its president, Jacob Zuma.

ANC KZN provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo has expressed his party’s unhappiness with its GPU partners, particularly the DA and the IFP, accusing the former of targeting ANC deployees in the government.

He accused the IFP’s MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Thulasizwe Buthelezi, of  “weaponising” the portfolio against the ANC and using his position as the prime minister of the Zulu nation to further benefit his party while in government.

The GPU is also facing a threat from the NFP.

This has been simmering from the onset, after the NFP’s president, Irvin Barnes, claimed the party was betrayed after agreeing to participate in the GPU on the condition that it would be awarded one Cabinet position (which it got when Cynthia Mbali Shinga was appointed as MEC for social development) and the mayorship of the Zululand District Municipality. Barnes was keen to hold that mayorship but the IFP instead voted in its own candidate, Michael Khumalo.

Barnes was not available to comment and the IFP’s Mkhuleko Hlengwa declined to comment.

The DA’s KZN leader, Francois Rodgers, said he was not aware of any threat facing the GPU, contending that his party, which holds a deputy speaker position in the KZN legislature and two portfolios in the KZN government executive, was still happy with its participation in that government.

Rodgers said the DA would reject any attempt to bring in MK because the MK “doesn’t believe in the Constitution and law and order”.

‘Marriage of convenience’

Zakhele Ndlovu, an independent political analyst and senior politics lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said anything could happen as the GPU was weak and the biggest party was outside the government.

“First, let’s remember that this is a political marriage of convenience. These parties do not have much in common. Ideologically, they are far apart. This means they do not have a shared vision.

“MEC Buthelezi is coming across as a divisive figure. He appears to be prioritising his party’s agenda.

“Truth be told, Buthelezi is already campaigning here and the IFP’s main competitor is MK. For now, I think the GPU is going to survive but all sides need to refrain from extremism and accommodate all partners in order for this political marriage to survive,” said Ndlovu.

Professor Musa Xulu, a retired academic and founder of Indonsa Yesizwe, a political and social think tank, agreed.

“On the issue of tensions within the KZN GPU it was always to be expected because, in reality, from an ideological point of view, the four political parties in the GPU have very little to share. The one political party that is ideologically close to the ANC is the MK party, but they are not in government.”

Zwakele Mncwango, ActionSA’s KZN leader, said KZN residents should brace themselves for an MK-led KZN government.

“All will depend on the last-minute negotiations taking place between the parties. We know that the ANC has been talking to Zuma and other MK leaders. The IFP has also been talking to Zuma but we don’t know the content and result of these meetings,” he said.

“I personally wouldn’t like an MK-led KZN government. But the reality is that MK won most of the vote in KZN and it doesn’t make sense that they are out of government. Any government that doesn’t include that party will always be unstable and weak.”  DM