Former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) is said to be in talks with the ANC to topple the Government of Provincial Unity. | Reuters/ Rogan Ward
Durban — There are renewed attempts to form a new government in the hung KwaZulu-Natal between the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) and the ANC.
The new pact was likely to include the NFP, a kingmaker in the province with its single seat, in the 80-member provincial legislature.
Fuelling these claims is the decision of the ANC to hear former president and MKP leader Jacob Zuma’s appeal on Friday (today) after his expulsion from the party he led for 10 years between 2007 and 2017 in July.
Zuma also failed to meet the deadline to file his appeal within his 21-day appeal period in June.
At the time, those close to him told the Daily News that Zuma would not appeal against his expulsion.
The MKP’s Chief Whip in the KZN provincial legislature, Dr Kwazi Mbanjwa, said: “We are building the MK Party at the moment, and we are not aware of any plans of the MKP to work with the ANC.”
He wouldn’t be drawn into commenting further.
However, a high-ranking MKP insider said: “Zuma is being courted by a very senior ANC leader to form alliances with the party. But he has laid down his terms. And he is clear that he would not be in any coalition agreement with the party in its current form.”
One of the MKP's new recruits, former ANC heavyweight and erstwhile KZN premier Willies Mchunu, publicly said it was amiss for the MKP to be on the opposition benches in KZN despite winning 37 seats in the legislature with 80 seats.
The party needs just four seats to govern KZN, which has a budget of R150 billion, currently under the leadership of Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli, with other MECs coming from the ANC, the IFP, the DA and the NFP as part of the coalition agreement.
In a circulated interview, Mchunu, now an MKP KZN convener, said: “What happened to the MK Party after the elections is not democracy. You have a party that won with 45% that is not running the government in KZN just because other parties teamed up to make sure that it is blocked from running the government of KZN.”
Mchunu recently resigned from the ANC and joined the MKP led by Zuma, a long-time ally.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) nationally and in KZN has repeatedly said it was unhappy with the ANC forming the Government of National Unity (GNU) and Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) with parties such as the DA led by John Steenhuisen, who is the Minister of Agriculture in the GNU government.
Themba Mthembu, SACP provincial secretary in KZN, said: "As the SACP, we have been saying that the ANC should have rather joined a coalition pact with the MK Party and the EFF."
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula told the media on Tuesday that Zuma remained expelled from the ANC.
“Zuma is not an ANC member. He was expelled from the party for leading and campaigning for another party (MKP) while he was still a member of the ANC,” Mbalula was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
The secretary of the ANC in KZN, Bheki Mtolo, could not be reached for comment.
Political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said the ANC needed Zuma’s support base more than he needed the party, which he had joined when he was just 17 years old.
“The reality is that many leaders in the ANC are not happy with its coalition agreement with parties such as the DA. The ANC needs Zuma’s support base more than he needs the party. Zuma remains the powerful leader outside the ANC, especially with the power that the MK Party has.”
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