The Inkatha Freedom Party is expected to put KwaZulu-Natal on the path to fresh elections on Wednesday when it leads a vote to dissolve the province’s legislature.
Backed by the Democratic Alliance and the United Democratic Movement, the IFP is widely expected to get the simple majority it needs at a special sitting of the house.
The vote is seen as a bid to block the African National Congress’ attempts to pass new floor-crossing legislation that will give it effective control of the KwaZulu-Natal government.
The ANC and its allies have indicated they will vote against the dissolution motion. This will give premier Lionel Mtshali a mandate to call a new poll — more than a year before the next scheduled provincial and national elections.
If the motion is passed, the new election must take place within 90 days.
The IFP has vowed to press ahead with the vote despite the absence of legislation providing for such elections.
This may see the IFP taking court action to force the national government to put in place electoral law amendments. Despite the looming legislative crisis, neither the IFP nor the ANC showed any signs of backing down late on Tuesday and each put the onus on the other to convene talks. The ANC and IFP legislature caucuses met separately on Tuesday to finalise their plan’s for Wednesday’s sitting.
The ANC, meanwhile, is going ahead with a planned rally -‒ in Freedom Square adjacent to the Pietermaritzburg legislature building — to celebrate its 91st anniversary.
The ANC says the celebrations were planned long before Mtshali called the special session. The ANC was founded in Bloemfontein on January 8, 1912. – Sapa