The stability of KwaZulu-Natal’s government of provincial unity is under the spotlight this week after the National Freedom Party, which holds a single seat in the 80-member legislature, joined the Jacob Zuma–led MK party in declaring a loss of confidence in premier Thami Ntuli.
Ntuli, who also leads the IFP in the province, was elected last year with the backing of the ANC, DA and NFP, despite the MK party securing the largest share of votes in the 2024 election.
The four-party coalition in KwaZulu-Natal puts the IFP in charge of the premier position and four other cabinet positions in the 10-member executive. The parties have a combined 41 out of 80 seats in the legislature.
“The founding principles of the government of provincial unity (GPU) were anchored on clean and transparent governance, efficient delivery of services to the people of KwaZulu-Natal, and the creation of an environment conducive to investment.
“Central to this vision was an integrated approach to service delivery, with municipalities at the core, as they are the first point of contact with our people,” NFP president Ivan Barnes said.
“Unfortunately, what has transpired stands in stark contrast to these principles. At both political and governance levels, there have been no meaningful reviews of the performance of party deployees from all political parties.”
Business Day understands that the secretary-general of MK, Bongani Mncwango, is leading negotiations with other parties within the province to oust Ntuli and dissolve the GPU.
The DA on Tuesday will be unveiling another step in its fight to rid the public procurement process of race-based criteria. Last week the DA introduced a private member’s bill by its head of policy, Mathew Cuthbert, which proposes the overhaul of SA’s public procurement system.
Packed week ahead in parliament
It’s a busy week in parliament with committees, plenaries and questions to the deputy president and ministers all on the agenda.
The ad hoc committee investigating allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi will continue with deputy minister of police Cassel Mathale due to appear before the committee on Tuesday and Wednesday. This follows police minister Senzo Mchunu’s appearance last week.
Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi will make a statement on Tuesday on the efforts to fight tuberculosis. On the same day, ministers in the economics cluster will reply to MPs’ questions during a question-and-answer session in the National Council of Provinces.
Ministers in the governance cluster will answer questions in the National Assembly on Wednesday. On Thursday deputy president Paul Mashatile will answer questions in the National Assembly.
On Friday one of the mini-plenaries in the National Assembly will discuss the gambling crisis in SA and the need for measures to better regulate the industry. Another mini-plenary will discuss the urgent need to reform public procurement laws.
Among the 40 portfolio committee meetings scheduled for the week is a meeting on Tuesday of the finance committee, which will be briefed by the National Treasury and the SA Revenue Service on their annual reports.
The committee on communications & digital technologies will receive a presentation by the broad-based BEE ICT sector council on progress on achieving black economic empowerment of the ICT sector.
G20 working group meetings are under way this week ahead of the leaders’ summit on November 22-23, with delegates convening for the fourth empowerment of women working group and third anticorruption working group sessions from Monday to Wednesday, followed by the culture working group ministerial meeting on Wednesday.
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