‘Back-door coalition talks’ taking place in KZN

‘Back-door coalition talks’ taking place in KZN

With the national elections just weeks away, the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) could find itself a kingmaker in KwaZulu-Natal, especially if no single party wins an outright majority in the province.

On the surface, the ANC, EFF and MKP in KZN have asserted that they are all looking for a majority victory in the province and dismissed coalition talks as something that will only be entertained after the election.

Nationally, EFF leader Julius Malema has said if the ANC gets below 50%, he would be willing to bargain EFF votes with a rival party but only if they make his deputy Floyd Shivambu, the finance minister after the elections.

He has also not ruled out an EFF/MKP coalition, saying he is open to working with “like-minded” parties.

ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane said it was not interested in a coalition government, pointing to failed power-sharing attempts at the local government level. However, she said the ANC was open to working with anyone as long as they agreed on “the task at hand”.

The MKP insisted that it was aiming for a two-thirds majority and that coalitions would “not be necessary”.

The party’s national spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said it would work with all progressive parties. “Those discussions will be based on the outcomes of the elections.”

However, in KZN, sources say coalition discussions have been taking place behind the scenes. An ANC insider said no party would declare “upfront that they are in coalition talks and will use back-door channels where people informally talk”.

“In KZN, the game has shifted dramatically to engagements between the ANC and MKP, where the priorities are quite high and the feeling is that a combined vote is going to be more than 50%.

“The key question then is how does that split work out and what is the ratio between the two parties after the election results are announced.”

The source said MK’s challenge would be how to field volunteers at the close to 5000 voting stations in the province, whereas the ANC “machinery is well established”.

Another source said the main debate among KZN ANC members was “If the ANC falls below 40%, who should be the coalition partner?”

ANC provincial spokesperson, Mafika Mndebele, said the party’s research indicated that it would perform well in four key regions in the province – eThekwini, uMgungundlovu, Lower South Coast and General Gizenga Mpanza.

“Those regions hold 65% of the potential voters in the province and we are confident that we will do extremely well there and in other areas, so there is no need to discuss coalitions.

“This is not a position of arrogance but informed by our research which shows us getting 58% of the vote in the province which is an improvement from the previous election.”

EFF provincial leader Mongezi Twala said the party was “fighting to be number one”. “We are not in discussion with MK, ANC or any other party. We do not know who we will engage with after the elections but if there are any discussions, these will take place with like-minded parties.”

Political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said the MKP and EFF were more aligned in their policy ideology while there were distinctive gaps between the MKP and the ANC.

“There are three major issues that the MKP will have with the ANC. The governing party will have to show commitment to abandon the current approach adopted by President Cyril Ramaphosa, and go back to the historic mission of the ANC and that requires a radical approach.

“Secondly, the discussion will revolve around the allocation of resources to the marginalised, and thirdly will be the commitment to changing the status quo, which is a transformation of structures, systems and processes that currently ignore the colonial impact which allows for the exploitation of natural resources.”

The Mercury