As behind-the-scenes horse-trading and intense negotiations continue over forming a government in kwaZulu-Natal, the DA has cautioned the IFP not to self-destruct when choosing a coalition partner.
Despite the ANC splinter grouping uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party’s impressive electoral run, overtaking the governing party as the majority party in the province, the numbers didn’t give the party an outright majority.
The former president Jacob Zuma-led formation will now have to rely on other parties. This in its bid to govern the province with the second-biggest economy in the country.
The IFP has made it known that for now, it has not closed the door to any political party that wants to negotiate a pact. It slammed the so-called fake news which purported that the party would not engage certain political parties.
IFP remains open to engaging all political players
“It is regrettable that such fake news would be circulating when the IFP issued a formal statement on our approach to coalition talks. Our statement this morning affirmed that the IFP remains open to engaging all political players,” the party said on Tuesday.
But the DA, together with the IFP and other smaller parties had formed a multiparty charter. This was formed leading up to the provincial and national elections. Its sole intention was to dislodge the ANC’s ideas. The pact, however, failed to garner sufficient votes to form a government.
The party’s focus has now shifted to ensuring that the MK Party is given a cold shoulder by other opposition parties. This despite the lead that the party commands.
“Of course, we would have wanted the multiparty charter to form its own government. But this wasn’t achieved. I can’t speak for the IFP, I’m not a member of the IFP. [In this case] I can only speak on behalf of the DA,” the party’s KZN chairperson, Dean MacPherson, told Sunday World.
DA reached out to the IFP
He pointed out that the party had reached out to the IFP. This was on the grounds that some elements of the multiparty charter should be introduced in the new government.
He said the DA’s non-negotiable was that the MK Party and EFF don’t become governments in KZN. The DA leader said it will spell disaster.
As things stands, in the 80-seat provincial legislature, MK Party leads the pack with 37 seats. It is followed by the IFP at 15 seats, an additional 2 seats from what it achieved in 2019 general elections.
The ANC has 14 from the 44 seats it had previously, while the DA retained it 11 seats. The EFF was the biggest loser, shedding six seats, scrapping for two seats in this year’s elections.
