Ann Eveleth
African National Congress (ANC) and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leaders have taken off their gloves to wage an all-fronts battle between their respective power-
As negotiators from both parties prepared to sit down at the table this week for what turned out to be little more than “talks before talks before talks” discussions, party leaders were behind the scenes positioning themselves for the duel.
The cursory commitments of both parties to dialogue did little to deflect the tit-for-tat exchanges between President Nelson Mandela and IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi which rang out from stadiums across KwaZulu/Natal at the weekend.
Nor did the actual commencement of talks on Wednesday prevent KwaZuluNatal Premier Frank Mdlalose’s suspension of the province’s participation in the Intergovernmental Forum as a first step toward implementing an overall IFP strategy to achieve its confederal objectives.
IFP sources this week confirmed the existence of a strategy document aimed at maximising provincial powers in KwaZulu/Natal, calling for legislation to empower the province to establish its own security force and increase its autonomy in several areas, including trade and industry, education, civil service, media, local government, land, water, forestry, environment, and gambling.
Mdlalose alluded to the strategy in his announcement that his government was “considering an extensive programme of legislation and government actions” to promote its vision of federalism. He added that the province would consider resorting to the Constitutional Court to achieve its objectives.
Mdlalose said one of the reasons for the pull-out was “the failure to commence the agreed-upon international
IFP constitutional negotiator Sipo Mzimela has, however, repeatedly stressed his committment to exploring a domestic resolution of constitutional
While the ANC has welcomed this stance, its position that the talks should centre on the 1993 Constitution and that resolutions must not bind the Constitutional Assembly is in conflict with Mzimela’s hope that dropping the mediation demand could yield more permanent results.
The failure of talks to bear tangible fruit in terms of an agreed agenda for the planned summit suggests the process could be as protracted as that which preceded last year’s elections.
If University of Natal political scientist Mervyn Frost’s depiction of the IFP as a party which relies on crises to rally its followers has any merit, this crisis is unlikely to be resolved much before the November local elections.
The coincidence of Mdlalose’s claim that his province was achieving nothing from its participation in the forum — tasked to iron out the degree of federalism with the parliamentary announcement by acting Public Administration Minister Kader Asmal this week that KwaZulu/Natal was leading the race of provinces for the devolution of powers — seemed to support this theory.
But Asmal’s announcement did not dampen the IFP’s campaign to project KwaZulu/Natal as a mutant, politically-circumscribed province.
For its part, the ANC has shown itself ready to push IFP sensitivities to the limit, despite its erstwhile hopes of convincing the party to drop its mediation demand.
The controversial Remuneration of Traditional Leaders Bill, coming hot on the heels of repeated threats to withdraw funding to the wayward province, cut straight to the heart of the IFP’s provincial power-base. Its release on the eve of the summit could only have added fuel to the fire.
While Buthelezi castigated Mandela for “hand-picking” chiefs for Monday’s meeting, IFP KwaZulu/Natal Minister of Traditional Affairs Chief Nyanga Ngubane was sending a letter apologising for not attending, and inviting Mandela to address the IFP-aligned chiefs in Ulundi.
The continued war of words between the two parties indicates that the IFP’s “provincial army” is ready for