KZN Premier Thami Ntuli
Inherited debt of R10 billion and spending cuts of R150 million a year appear to be presenting greater problems to KwaZulu-Natal’s government of provincial unity (GPU) than political divisions among the parties which make it up.
Despite issues between the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leaders in the province over interventions in eThekwini and other municipalities — as well as internal battles in the National Freedom Party (NFP) — Premier Thami Ntuli’s unity government remains stable after three months.
The coalition holds the narrowest of majorities over the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature through the NFP’s single MPL, Mbali Shinga, who is now social development MEC.
Shinga’s vote allowed the coalition to elect Ntuli as premier and, despite concerns that the court battle between NFP president Ivan Barnes and secretary general Teddy Thwala would collapse the party, this has not affected its participation in the unity cabinet.
The fight is still continuing, as are tensions between ANC provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo and provincial cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi over eThekwini and the removal of administrators appointed to assist councils by his predecessor, Bongi Sithole-Moloi.
But the strongest headwinds the provincial government is facing are financial, and not political, as Ntuli said himself this week in a presentation on his administration’s initial period of office.
The cabinet had been constituted and reorganised, while portfolios had been grouped into clusters to try to streamline provision of services across departments, all of which have been instructed to cut spending on “nice to have” programmes.
The province had held consultations across sectors of society and developed a programme for the next five years based on common areas of agreement aimed at improving service delivery.
Each MEC would be signing a service delivery agreement by the end of October.
While an initial programme had been developed, this would have to be adjusted because of the lack of finances.
Ntili said the public sector wage increase for the 2023-24 financial year had been higher than anticipated and had been implemented in the April 2024 payroll. This meant the cash flow had to be re-prioritised to fund the salary bill in the current financial year.
Added to this strain was a debt of R10 billion to service providers, which had been rolled over from last year, R5.5 billion of which was payable from the current year’s cash flow — as well as annual cuts in KwaZulu-Natal’s equitable share of funding from the national government.
This would require annual spending cuts of R150 million a year for the next seven years for the province to develop a positive cash flow and to address overspending, which was anticipated to amount to R9.7 billion for 2023-24.
“KwaZulu-Natal is in a state of financial limitation,” Ntuli said. “We are expected to produce the same if not more with less resources.
“We will not be able to do everything that was promised within the anticipated time frame. However, we will ensure that we improve integration at planning and implementation so that we use resources in a smart way.”
He said all departments would look at ways of improving current revenue, and raising new revenue from areas such as licensing, online gambling and other activities that were currently not regulated.
“We encourage both the provincial treasury and heads of department to look for unconventional sources of revenue, alternative funding models, public-private partnerships, or leveraging natural resources sustainably to have solid public finances,” Ntuli said.
The province would also dispose of all unoccupied buildings and vacant land, and would revise its property portfolio to avoid paying excessive rates and from being “trapped in excessive property bills”.
Travel costs had been cut by 30% a month since the new cabinet took office, while the replacement cycle had been extended for vehicles, computers and other assets, which would now be used until written off or dysfunctional.
The province was also moving to fill vacant key posts to cut the consultancy bill, which stood at R3.6 billion for the 2023-24 financial year.
For all the financial problems KwaZulu-Natal faces, the leaders of the four parties in the unity government appear to be happy with their ability to act in concert despite their ideological and political differences.
ANC chairperson Siboniso Duma, Democratic Alliance provincial leader Francois Rodgers and Shinga flanked Ntuli at the briefing, at which all three expressed satisfaction with the progress the coalition had made.
Ntuli, the IFP provincial chairperson, said it and the other parties found it possible to retain their identities while working together, because all of their manifestos had been able “to find expression in our journey”.
“It is all about what the people of KwaZulu-Natal want — not politics but service delivery. That is what is keeping us together. That is why it was easier for us to agree to form a government before any other province,” he said.
He said his government was stable and “not fragmented” despite the parties representing different constituencies and did not agree on every single issue.
“The fact that we are in the GPU and GNU [government of national unity] does not change that we represent different constituencies and does not mean that we will agree every day. There is no suggestion at provincial level that we are facing a level of disagreement on issues that may warrant that we see this arrangement as not being stable,” Ntuli said.
“What is happening in other provinces is not what is happening here in KwaZulu-Natal.”
While the province’s financial position was difficult, “there is a plan” both in terms of raising new revenue and reprioritising his administration’s programmes in the short term, he added.
He said tensions between Buthelezi and Mtolo had been resolved and were at this point “not an issue at all”.
“We have been able to constitute a government, which has been stable and has passed 100 days. They were saying I was a premier for a few days, those would be MECs for a few days, but we have now passed 100 days and are forging ahead to 200 days,” Ntuli said.
Duma said “contradictions are always going to emerge” when parties with distinct identities were “forced” by the electorate to work together but that there was “unity” and a “sense of collegiality” in the provincial cabinet.
“I don’t think any of us want to lose our identity. We still represent our constituencies. There will be contradictions, but at the end of the day service delivery is the cornerstone of what drives us. Our primary focus is that,” Duma said.
“The GNU and the GPU is the consequence of the political setback for the ANC. In reality we would all want to have power alone. We must develop a new attitude of working together. We have been forced to do so by the voters. For the next five years, we just have to adjust our thinking and work together,” he said.
“We are here at this point in time and we are working well together. We have been forced by the voters, but so far so good.”
Rodgers said that there was no “globular agreement” among coalition partners across municipalities and provinces and the issues before the unity government were dealt with on a “case by case basis”.
Rodgers said they had been able to deal with issues individually which prevented municipal disputes from affected on the provincial process.
“It is one on an individual basis. That is how we will continue to treat it. It is a formula for success now and for the future,” he said.
Shinga said they had been able to prevent municipalities from being collapsed by manoeuvring among the parties at council level, as had been the case after the 2021 local government elections.
“If we start doing that, it is the communities that will suffer. It is important that stability is maintained while we remain who we are.”
She said that “no one gave us a chance” when the government of provincial unity was formed, but “here we are today”.
“The GPU is intact, it is at work and our eyes are on the ball.”