The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) wants to resume building additional chambers for the House of Traditional leaders in KwaZulu-Natal despite objections from the African National Congress (ANC), which argues that the vacant, former homeland legislature building in Ulundi could be used instead.
”We feel that the legislature building in Ulundi is more than adequate to accommodate all the traditional leaders,” ANC spokesperson Mtholephi Mthimkhulu said this week.
A senior government leader said an ”amicable debate is on at the moment in the Cabinet”.
The Ulundi legislative building has been unused since last year when the ANC succeeded in implementing a motion to declare Pietermaritzburg the legislative capital of KwaZulu-Natal.
The IFP first proposed building additional chambers for the House of Traditional Leaders in 1997.
The project was stopped soon afterwards when the province ran into financial difficulties. But the IFP camp feels that Ulundi could become the political capital again if it wins the elections decisively next year.
Official IFP comment could not be obtained at the time of going to press.
Both parties hope to resolve the debate by May 26, when the legislature sits to vote on the province’s budget.