By Sihle Mavuso
With the province hung, the three major political parties in KwaZulu-Natal have kicked off informal coalition talks, and the uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK) party and the EFF have already been ignored.
The talks started yesterday. DA and IFP leaders confirmed to Scrolla.Africa that they have reached out to leaders of other political parties – except for those two.
The initial proposal is to give the premiership to Thami Ntuli of the IFP and allow ANC provincial chairperson Siboniso Duma to keep the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environment Affairs.
The ANC has been offered four cabinet positions and the remaining six are to be shared by the IFP, DA and the National Freedom Party. Combined, all these parties have 41 of the 80 seats in the KZN Legislature.
The ANC’s provincial secretary, Bheki Mtolo, confirmed to eNCA that informal talks have begun.
IFP insiders said while it is hard to sell the idea of working with the ANC, it is “a better devil” than the MK party.
“If the MK party gets to power in the province it will get resources to start gobbling up municipalities through by-elections. By the time the 2026 elections come, they will be firmly in charge of everything and it won’t be easy to dislodge them,” an IFP insider said.
Another worry was that the MK party is full of politically ambitious people and a coalition government with them would be unstable.
The DA and IFP do not want to get into a coalition with the EFF following their experience in November 2021 after forming coalitions in several municipalities in KZN. The red party abruptly walked out, paving the way for the ANC to reclaim those municipalities.
“The EFF cannot be trusted,” a leader of the DA said.
The DA has already issued a formal statement stating it wants to keep the MK party and EFF out of power.
“The DA in KZN will remain committed to keeping out the MK party and EFF from government. This is a non-negotiable for us and those that voted for the DA,” the liberal party said in a statement.
On its part, the IFP said it would go into coalitions that would put the country first.
“As we committed to do throughout this campaign, the IFP is putting South Africa first,” the IFP said.
Pictured above: Provincial ANC secretary Bheki Mtolo.
Image source: X
