Durban — KwaZulu-Natal will have a new sheriff in town in the coming days as millions of voters gave the ANC its marching orders during last week’s momentous elections.
The recently-formed uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), led by former president Jacob Zuma, dashed all the ANC’s hopes of retaining the province after scoring 45% in last week’s elections.
The ANC managed just 17%, a spectacular drop from the 54% the party managed in 2019, and was toppled as the governing party in KZN.
However, the ANC is not going down without a fight, as its chairperson, Siboniso Duma, and provincial secretary, Bheki Mtolo, are alleged to be planning a political ploy to block the MKP from taking over the coastal province with its budget of R150 billion.
With the end beckoning, the 11 members of the provincial cabinet, led by outgoing Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, are now clearing their offices.
Among them is Duma, who is the MEC for Economic Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs (Edtea), Super Zuma (Agriculture and Rural Development), Peggy Nkonyeni (Finance), and Sipho Hlomuka (Transport, Community Safety and Community Liaison).
Jacob Zuma’s die-hard backers, Nomagugu Simelane (Health), Mbali Frazer (Education), Nthuthuko Mahlaba (Sport, Arts and Culture), Bongi Sithole-Moloi (Cogta), Nonhlanhla Khoza (Social Development) and Sipho Nkosi (Human Settlement And Public Works) will also not be spared.
It will take something of a miracle for these MECs and Dube-Ncube to return to the provincial council.
While the MKP is already planning on its premier candidate, ANC spokesperson Mafika Mndebele said on Sunday that his party will not get into any coalition with its splinter party, the MKP.
“Our people have been saying to us some things need to change. We need to address the issue of corruption. We need to address many internal issues,” he said.
On forming a coalition government with the MKP, Mndebele was blunt, saying: “We will not enter into any form of coalition with the MK Party.”
The DA has also publicly snubbed the MKP, which is short of 6% to govern the province with a coalition partner.
This leaves the MKP with the option of the IFP, which scored 18.28% of votes, thus becoming the official opposition in the 80-seater Provincial Legislature.
This will be the second time ANC leaders find themselves on the opposition benches in KZN. The first was when the ANC failed to win the province during the historic 1994 and 1999 elections.
However, the ANC won back the province in 2004 when it managed a two-thirds majority during former president Thabo Mbeki’s tenure.
Top ANC provincial leaders led by Duma were at the official result operations centre at the Durban International Convention Centre (ICC) on Sunday.
Duma accepted the results.
“We worked hard. The people had their choices. But we’ll continue to fight.”
The ANC, which has enjoyed an outright majority in the province since 2004 after elbowing the IFP out of the political throne, scored 17.22% in KZN.
The ANC’s 44 seats in the 80-seater provincial legislature, are set to drop to 14, leading to many ANC leaders who were Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPLs) and MECs losing their jobs – and the boundless perks. This includes, among others, flights, bodyguards, hotel stays, luxurious vehicles and the patronage network.
With no party able to get an outright majority in KZN, Gauteng and nationally, horse trading is ongoing behind the scenes as coalition government will be the order of the day.
Nationally, talks abound that the ANC would likely get into bed with the DA to form a national government.
In KZN, however, it’s unclear who the MKP would pick as its coalition partner. Lobbying is expected to intensify in the coming days.
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