NFP says governance in KZN has collapsed, accuses coalition of corruption and hypocrisy
The National Freedom Party (NFP) says governance in KwaZulu-Natal has collapsed at both provincial and municipal levels.
The party says corruption is entrenched in the provincial Government of Unity (GPU), and democratic principles are being actively undermined.
Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, following the party’s announcement that it is withdrawing from the coalition with the IFP, ANC, and DA, NFP President Ivan Barnes accused political parties in the province of prioritising power and personal gain over the welfare of citizens.
He said the recent vote of no confidence against Premier Thami Ntuli, which was aimed at removing corrupt officials from power, had failed.
He described the current provincial administration as one that operates “against the people” and warned that democracy had been reduced to “ritual and performance,” with moral legitimacy and constitutional fidelity abandoned.
He argued that service delivery in KwaZulu-Natal had become inconsistent or entirely absent in many communities, while infrastructure continued to deteriorate.
“Service delivery has become inconsistent, inadequate, and in many communities, entirely absent. Infrastructure continues to deteriorate, eroding public confidence and worsening the lived realities of our people.”
“We are governed by rogue rulers, not representatives,” Barnes said, accusing members of the African National Congress (ANC), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), and Democratic Alliance (DA) of prioritising power over the people’s future.
He singled out MECs Duma and Rodgers and Premier Ntuli as participating in what he called the destruction of the next generation’s prospects.
Barnes particularly criticised the DA, saying the party’s ethics “are like water—slippery, shapeless, disappearing the moment they are tested.”
He said the party had betrayed its own choices in Gauteng, attempting to enlist the EFF after publicly condemning the party, exposing what he called “a house built on sand.”
He added that the DA’s moral compass, especially in KwaZulu-Natal, “does not point north—it spins, aimless, while the people pay the price.”
The NFP leader also condemned the ANC and IFP for reneging on pre-election promises not to work together, describing their post-election cooperation as a “fake marriage” that stripped the province of resources while silencing the electorate.
Barnes said charity and justice “begin at home,” and the NFP would continue to expose hypocrisy, reclaim the people’s voice, and defend democracy.
Barnes framed the current situation in KwaZulu-Natal as part of a wider system of elite collusion and resource extraction.
He said the Mineral–Energy Complex, alongside politically connected elites, controlled governance in the province for profit while communities suffered.
“Governments rotate, but extraction remains. Communities bleed; profits flow. This is power without a face—capital wrapped in legality—where land is reduced to balance sheets and people to disposable labor,” he said.
“What is called governance in KwaZulu-Natal is in fact the administration of black people’s misery in defense of mining profits, energy monopolies, and political funders,” he said
He described elections, councils, and parliamentary procedures as rituals designed to maintain elite control rather than deliver accountability.
“In this province, natives vote but do not rule. Their democratic rights reflect their place in the social hierarchy: marginal, expendable, and silenced.”
He added, “This is the most dangerous form of authoritarianism: one that wears the mask of democracy while dismantling its soul.”
“This is dictatorship with a smile. Tyranny with a legal opinion. Democracy is subverted in the name of democracy, and corruption is baptised as ‘stability,’” Barnes said.
He said the party would not collaborate with corrupt systems or compromise principles for convenience.
“The NFP stands with the people-without fear, without apology, and without compromise,” he said, invoking the legacy of the party’s late founder, Magwaza Msibi.
He added that the party’s struggle is not about seats or coalitions but about whether South African natives will continue to be ruled or finally govern themselves.
hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za
IOL Politics