Political tensions rise as ANC defies IFP-led cabinet decision in KwaZulu-Natal
Image: IOL / Independent Newspapers
A political clash which may threaten the stability of the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) in KwaZulu-Natal is looming between the ANC and IFP.
Parties have traded public blows over the IFP-led cabinet's decision to place the ANC-led Umkhanyakude District Municipality under administration. Although ANC's three MECs were part of the meeting that approved the decision, the party provincial task team leadership has publicly defied the cabinet decision and called on its deployees in the municipality to defy the order.
On Monday, the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi returned without introducing the appointed administrator Bamba Ndwandwe after he and his team were prevented from entering the municipality premises in the north-east of the province. The mayor and senior officials did not attend the meeting.
The angry MEC has vowed to ensure that the cabinet decision was implemented. On Wednesday, he said he warned the ANC and threatened to take legal action should it continue to defy the government's decision.
'We will not allow anyone to prevent the government from doing its work. If the ANC continues preventing me from executing my constitutional duties I will take legal action. This is a cabinet decision,' said Buthelezi.
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In a statement, the ANC said it vehemently rejects the unwarranted and politically charged decision by the MEC Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi, to invoke Section 139(1)(b) of the Constitution in the uMkhanyakude District Municipality. It said the so-called intervention is nothing short of abuse of constitutional provisions for political gain, adding that it lacks merit, rationale, and integrity.
'The ANC is appalled by the continued misuse of Section 139(1)(b) by the MEC, who has turned what should be a last-resort mechanism into a political weapon, one that is selectively and cynically deployed against ANC-led municipalities, regardless of their performance.
"The uMkhanyakude District Municipality has made tangible progress in governance, financial recovery, and service delivery. There is no objective basis for this draconian step, which appears designed not to improve governance, but to score narrow political points and destabilise a functional administration,' read the statement.
The party said it stands with the Council of uMkhanyakude District Municipality in resisting the opportunistic, mischievous and dangerous actions of a power-mongering MEC who is hell-bent on destabilising a functional municipality and undermining service delivery to communities, vowing to actively mobilise its supporters and communities to resist the advances of an MEC who the party described as having clearly defined himself outside of the GPU.
There are fears that the continued souring of relations between these two major partners of the GPU may create instability in the province which is known for its political complexities.
willem.phungula@inl.co.za.
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