Chris Louw
THE squabbles that marred the negotiation process are repeating themselves in the cabinet — and again Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi is at centre stage, shadowed by his Italian/American adviser, Dr Mario Ambrosini.
Buthelezi lost a battle to control next year’s local government elections when he left Wednesday’s cabinet meeting as the issue was about to be discussed.
Afterwards, a fuming Buthelezi accused Provincial Affairs and Local Government Minister Roelf Meyer of treating him with “disdain”. He asked not to be included in any further planning of the local elections, scheduled for October next year.
Cabinet sources, however, had a different version of what happened. The Weekly Mail & Guardian was told Buthelezi knew from the start that the initial preparations for the local elections would reside with Meyer’s department, as stipulated in the constitution.
Last month a report providing for a task group to steer the process was unanimously accepted by the cabinet. Buthelezi was part of that meeting. The meeting followed a cabinet decision on July 15 assigning the local government elections to the provinces — a decision also agreed to by Buthelezi.
A week after the decision was taken to appoint a task group — consisting of Thozamile Botha, Piet Colyn and Fanie van der Merwe — Buthelezi startled his cabinet colleagues by arguing that he should be in charge.
It is said that Ambrosini, who last week attended a meeting between cabinet members and the provincial premiers as adviser to kwaZulu/ Natal’s Dr Frank Mdlalose, was behind Buthelezi’s sudden change of mind.
Buthelezi’s move fits into a pattern that was continuously repeated at the World Trade Centre: after decisions were agreed to by all parties, the IFP would, without warning, change its position.
It is known that Meyer and his deputy, Mohammed Valli Moosa, had consulted MECs of the provinces before appointing the members of the task group. Buthelezi was aware of this.
The issue came to a head at last week’s cabinet meeting when Buthelezi argued that local government elections were a function of the Ministry of Home Affairs. According to people present, it was clear that Buthelezi had little understanding of what was contained in the report proposing the procedures to be followed.
Buthelezi said he left Wednesday’s cabinet meeting because he had a meeting with the Egyptian ambassador. In Buthelezi’s absence, the cabinet passed a resolution putting Meyer’s department in charge of the preparations for the local government elections.
Ambrosini, whose work permit expires on October 7, is working in Buthelezi’s office. He has raised the ire of most senior officials in the department by his high- handed approach, even though he has not been appointed to any position and is still paid by the IFP.
Buthelezi has been trying to appoint Ambrosini to his department on a full-time basis.
The Italian constitutional expert is not held in high esteem even by some of Buthelezi’s closest confidants. At last Friday’s meeting with the provincial premiers, he was disdainfully ignored by Mdlalose.
Meyer denied there was a “conflict” but he did, however, confirm the existence of “certain problems”.
The role of the task group will be to co-ordinate next year’s local elections and ensure some uniformity. The Provincial and Local Affairs Department will not conduct the elections, however. It is argued that it is not possible to conduct elections from the centre, and the nine provinces will accordingly take charge of them.
Variations in the way the elections are conducted will only be allowed where particularities in certain provinces make them necessary.
A constitutional expert described Buthelezi’s insistence that Home Affairs control the elections as “weird. He is the strongest proponent of federalism in the country, but now he wants a central department to take charge of elections assigned to the provinces.”