The IFP will not hand over control of the Zululand District Municipality to the NFP, even if this saves the precarious Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) from collapse.

Instead it wants the NFP to come up alternative demands prior to the two parties meeting.

This was revealed by a senior member of the IFP ahead of the parties’ meeting which is expected to take place this weekend. The NFP had previously threatened to pull out of the GPU – the coalition arrangement it has with the ANC, DA and the IFP.

Sources have said that the NFP will stay in the GPU if it gets one municipality in KZN on top of running the social development department which is headed by its sole legislature member, Mbali Shinga.

The NFP wants the Zululand District Municipality but the IFP does not want to hand over control of this crucial region.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the IFP leader said the view of the party is that the NFP’s demand to be handed over the Zululand District Municipality ‘is totally unreasonable’.

“The IFP is prepared to listen to the NFP’s alternative demands and take it from there.

“We are going to meet the NFP leadership and are prepared to listen to them, however, if they still demand that we hand them the Zululand District Municipality as a condition to them remaining in the GPU, this will not happen. We urge them to come up with an alternative to this demand. Collapsing (the provincial) government will not bring any benefit for the NFP,” said the source.

He said that the IFP governs Zululand on behalf of those who voted for the party and it would be ‘suicidal for the party to go against the will of the people, especially with eight months to go to local government elections’.

The NFP has accused the IFP of failing to honour an earlier agreement to transfer control of the Zululand District Municipality to it, however, the IFP has denied any such agreement.

IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the party was waiting for the finalisation of the date for the meeting with the NFP and there have not yet been any discussions.

“The IFP’s position remains the same, that the GPU does not extend to local government,” Hlengwa said.

The NFP’s acting Secretary-General Sunset Xaba did not respond to a request for comment.

On Saturday, the NFP met with the DA in Durban to try and find a solution to their withdrawal from the GPU which threatens to destabilise the provincial government. Without giving details of their discussion, the DA’s provincial chairperson Dean Macpherson, described the meeting as progressive and said his party plans to organise another meeting for all GPU partners to sit down and listen to the NFP’s concerns.

Last week, the NFP met with the ANC and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP). Reports indicated that the NFP expressed concerns regarding the treatment of its president Ivan Barnes.

However, the NFP later denied these claims, labelling it as misleading information. In a statement, the party announced it would remain outside the GPU until the disciplinary processes against its sole legislature member, Shinga, are concluded.

Shinga is currently undergoing a disciplinary hearing after she openly defied the party’s directive in December to support the MKP-sponsored motion of no confidence against Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli.

After their weekend meeting with the DA, the NFP is also expected to engage with the IFP. 

willem.phungula@inl.co.za

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