Durban — In what could further strain the IFP and the ANC’s relations in the KwaZulu-Natal Government of Provincial Unity (GPU), the IFP and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi has hit back at the ANC, telling it to face the reality of having lost power in the last elections.
During a media briefing on Monday which was addressed by the ANC’s top five leaders, the party launched a scathing attack on Buthelezi, warning the IFP to act against him or the ANC will be forced to act against him.
The ANC cited Buthelezi’s decision to brand the department’s water tankers that were donated to water-stricken uThukela District Municipality with his face, as well as “targeting” certain headmen (izinduna) through the department’s verification process that he announced during his budget speech a few months ago.
The ANC’s provincial chairperson Sibonisiso Duma said the party was inundated with calls from izinduna who complained that they were being victimised by Buthelezi. Duma said his party was still happy with the GPU and had no plans to leave, however, it was not happy with Buthelezi whom he said “thinks he was above the GPU”.
Joining the fray, IFP provincial chairperson Inkosi Ntandoyesizwe Shabalala defended Buthelezi, saying it was izinduna who were politicising matters of traditional nature.
Inkosi Shabalala said the MEC was right in rooting out the ghost izinduna in his department. He said that it was the MEC’s responsibility to ensure taxpayers’ money was used to pay the correct people.
“We do not know what is wrong if MEC Buthelezi is rooting out izinduna that were on the systems unlawfully. He has a responsibility to do as the MEC responsible for traditional matters in the province, so anyone who sees anything wrong here must tell us what is wrong,” said Shabalala.
Also, in a statement issued by Buthelezi, he blasted the ANC accusing it of running a campaign to isolate him from the “IFP collective”. The defiant Buthelezi accused the ANC of having election results hangover, adding that it would be advisable for it to come to terms with its dramatic loss of power in the province.
“None of these tactics by the ANC will intimidate me nor deter me from executing my responsibilities as an MEC serving under an IFP premier. I will not be bullied by KZN ANC nor will I mollycoddle the corruption and malfeasance that was the order of the day in the Cogta Department in the 6th administration,” said Buthelezi.
In the recent meetings with amakhosi (traditional leaders), Buthelezi reported that after his department started the verification process of the headmen, several of them marched to his office to complain that traditional leaders were purging them.
The MEC said he dismissed izinduna, telling them that they were not appointed by Cogta but by amakhosi therefore, he would not entertain their complaints if their employers (amakhosi) no longer wanted them.
On the issue of Buthelezi’s face on the department’s water tankers, the IFP also poured cold water, saying municipalities desperately needed help to fight water challenges, therefore they would have no problems when donors brand the tankers with their colours.
Inkosi Shabalala said it was not the first time a municipality received help with colours of the donor because when the Development Bank of Southern Africa and Coca-Cola donated water tankers they had their names and colours branded on them.
The ANC also turned on the DA’s behaviour after it refused to back its motion in KwaDukuza Local Municipality, however, the DA defended itself, saying the ANC must remember that there was no working relationship between these parties in the local government.
The ANC also dismissed widely speculated rumours that it will form a new government of provincial unity with the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, recommitting itself to the GPU despite challenges it had mentioned during the media briefing.
The party said the GPU was working well and would not leave it because of a few rotten potatoes like Buthelezi and some in the DA.
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