No witch-hunt of MK defectors, says ANC chair in KwaZulu-Natal

A process of weeding out uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party defectors or those who might have aided the Jacob Zuma-led party to electorally overtake the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal would be futile and would likely cause divisions, said ANC provincial chair Siboniso Duma. 

Rather, the focus for the party - which not only failed to win an outright majority nationally but has been relegated to third position with 14 seats in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature - is to rebuild its structures and to participate in the coalition government with the DA, IFP and National Freedom Party (NFP). 

Duma said: “If we go on a witch-hunt, you will purge comrades and divide what is left in the ANC. We think people are going to repent and come back to the ANC.” 

The provincial posture on defectors to MK differs from the position in December after Zuma announced that he would no longer vote for the ANC. The party previously suspended three councillors in the eThekwini region, the ANC’s largest region by membership, for campaigning for MK. 

Zuma is also suspended from the ANC for contravening the party’s constitution and faces disciplinary proceedings for joining and campaigning for MK, which is named after the ANC’s now defunct military wing. 

The four-party coalition in KwaZulu-Natal puts the IFP in charge of the premier position and four other cabinet positions in the 10-member executive. The parties have a combined 41 out of 80 seats in the legislature. 

DA provincial leader François Rodgers has been appointed finance MEC, while DA KwaZulu-Natal deputy chair Martin Meyer has been named public works MEC. The executive council also has three ANC MPLs and one NFP member. Duma is the MEC for roads and transport. 

The power-sharing deal reflects a coalition agreement struck between the parties with the aim of locking the MK party out of the government despite it winning the lion’s share of the vote. 

Tension within the coalition partners arose last week after NFP president Ivan Barnes was expected to be installed as mayor of the Zululand District Municipality but was replaced by IFP candidate Michael Khumalo. The mayoral chain was previously held by the IFP’s Zulu kingdom prime minister Thulasizwe Buthelezi, who has since been appointed as the new co-operative governance & traditional affairs MEC. 

IFP MP Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the coalition agreement at provincial level does not filter down to local government. IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa added during a media conference that because his party held the majority of the seats in the Zululand district, it was fair that its candidate retained the mayoral chain. 

“We are aware that they also indicated the issue of uThukela. The IFP is governing in Inkosi Langalibalele and Alfred Duma, and it will not go down well with the voters if we exchange their will for whatever reason that we can explain,” Hlabisa said. 

Duma said the coalition among the four parties would not collapse despite teething problems between the IFP and its splinter, the NFP, coupled with the historical ideological differences between the ANC and the DA. “It was never going to be easy because we have differences in ideology. We should let go of our egos. The priority is the communities,” he said. 

maekot@businesslive.co.za