A VIEW OF THE WEEK: Zuma’s MK party not ready to lead the KZN circus

The eThekwini municipality put on its brightest smile over the festive season. The roads and beaches in major tourist hotspots around Durban were clean, police were everywhere, and public parks were manicured.

But stray too far and a dirty and tired CBD revealed all that had been swept under the carpet.

The city, like others in the province, is battling for survival. Service delivery is slow, immigration and lawlessness a plague, and hopelessness hangs overhead.

Having lived in the municipality and KwaZulu-Natal for several years, where I spent most of my days in townships and impoverished areas, I could see that the municipality was trying to deliver work, services, and a better life for its residents. But these efforts were almost always tripped up by corruption and incompetent leaders.

It seemed the further north you went, the more accountability became a suggestion instead of a necessity. Government officials ran districts and municipalities on their own time and for their own enrichment.

While the local government elections later this year offer hope of change, it is unlikely when a majority of residents in the province hold on to the legacy of the ANC and its former leader, Jacob Zuma through his uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK party).

KZN government crumbling

And the tide to keep the MK party from getting into power is weakening by the day.

A failed vote of no confidence in the KZN Premier Thami Ntuli led the National Freedom Party (NFP) to call a press conference last week, lambasting the government of provincial unity (GPU) coalition. A coalition that they were eager to jump into when they realised they were the kingmaker.

The thing about kingmakers is that they are not the king themselves, and so once their vote is secured, they can easily be relegated to court jester.

The NFP labelled the partnership as rotten and rogue, and apologised to its supporters, not for being greedily blinded by the chance of power and positions, but for being in such a political arrangement.

The coalition partners have been meeting with the party this week to negotiate, but the NFP is, for now, slithering over to the MK party.

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MK party at a loss

The MK party will likely give it power again, and perhaps even promise more favourable terms, but what good are promises from a coalition partner that does not even know where it is going?

It was the near-monthly spring cleaning of leadership within the MK party again this week, with a suspended member reinstated, a new treasury general appointed, and the Parliamentary chief whip given the boot … again.

The old chief whip, Colleen Makhubele, was in the job for just five months when she was removed. Only to be reinstated in November. The fiasco saw the party suspend its deputy president, John Hlophe. Mpiyakhe Limba, who was also removed as treasury general this week, had been in the job for nine months.

Just six months ago, former EFF founder Floyd Shivambu was secretary-general of the party and was in Zuma’s inner circle; now he has his own party after being suspended and later expelled.

Leadership merry-go-rounds are common in politics, but the frequency with which they occur at the MK party points to either serious growing pains as they try to find the perfect people for each position, or a party run by Zuma, with everyone else disposable.

Whichever it is, both explanations point to an immature party that is not ready to take on serious responsibilities in government, let alone fix the long list of problems plaguing KZN.

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Who will work with the MK party?

When it can drag itself away from tearing itself apart, the party has preached radical nationalism with deep-rooted traditional and military roots that would dramatically change the constitution, political systems, and foreign policy.

Such ideals may help the country, but would require a large majority to pass, which, in the current political climate, makes it a tough coalition partner to share the bed with. Especially when the same parties that could align with them are competing with them for the black progressive vote.

KZN may be a political circus at the moment, but we cannot allow it to be dominated by a clown show. It needs steady hands and unselfish collaboration dedicated to serving citizens, and no coalition, current or future, looks ready to do so.

For a province that attracts people to the sea, it is itself drowning.

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