IFP cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi
Zulu monarch MisuZulu ka Zwelithini is under increasing pressure to fire his traditional prime minister, Thulasizwe Buthelezi, whose actions are being seen in KwaZulu-Natal as a threat to the stability of the government of provincial unity (GPU).
Buthelezi is also the KwaZulu-Natal cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC and a member of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) central committee, whose provincial leaders are also understood to want him removed from the position.
This week, premier Thami Ntuli, the provincial chairperson of the IFP, pulled the plug on the official opening of Buthelezi’s Ulundi office on the grounds that the ministerial handbook only allowed him two offices.
The IFP’s coalition partners are understood to have raised Buthelezi’s decision with Ntuli, quoting political and financial considerations, and asked that the move to the former KwaZulu capital be put on hold.
But sources close to the IFP and the ANC leadership in the province told the Mail & Guardian that there was concern in both parties over Buthelezi’s “destructive” role both as MEC and as traditional Zulu prime minister.
A source close to Buthelezi said the last-minute cancellation by the premier on Tuesday was carried out to impose his authority on the MEC, who party colleagues believe is using the traditional post to build his profile — and a power base among the province’s amakhosi.
Preparations were already well underway for the event, which was meant to take place on Thursday, when Ntuli used a public event in Richmond to announce that the opening — and the move — had been put on hold due to potential violations of the ministerial handbook.
“There is a feeling in the GPU that he is using the traditional prime minister position to build a power base against the premier. When the premier cancelled the move, he was putting his foot down,” the source said.
“There were no serious financial implications. This was a case of the premier showing Buthelezi who is boss. There are concerns that he is a danger to the stability of the government of provincial unity and the government of national unity.”
There were also concerns over Buthelezi’s interventions in ANC-run municipalities in his role as Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, in which he had also consolidated his support among the province’s amakhosi.
Buthelezi has pushed ahead with a programme of integrating amakosi into local councils, improving their remuneration and benefits, moves which have increased his currency with them, along with the traditional prime minister role.
He has clashed with the ANC provincial leadership on several occasions over the interventions in municipalities and was infamously stripped of the microphone at a government event involving King MisuZulu by its provincial chairperson, Siboniso Duma, ahead of 29 May general elections.
Buthelezi is also understood to have played a role in the breakdown in the relationship between the king and the Ingonyama Trust Board, of which he is trustee and chairperson.
According to the source, Buthelezi is seen by his cabinet colleagues, and others in the province’s political elite, as pursuing an agenda that furthers only the goals of the IFP, rather than taking a more accommodative stance which would also incorporate the interests of its coalition partners.
Ntuli leads a government consisting of the IFP, the ANC, the Democratic Alliance and the National Freedom Party which holds a single seat majority over the Umkhonto we Sizwe Party and Economic Freedom Fighters, who are in opposition in the provincial legislature.
“There is an advanced plan to remove him as traditional prime minister,” the source said, adding that members of the royal family and senior leaders of both the IFP and the ANC in the province had been “putting pressure” on the king to dump Buthelezi.
“They feel that he is shaking the cage too much and that it will affect the GNU. They now feel that his wings need to be clipped.”
According to the source, there have already been three meetings with the king involving members of the Minya royal house and politicians at which the issue of removing Buthelezi had been raised.
The meetings allegedly took place in Phongola in August, Umhlanga on 30 November and in Durban on 5 December.
The source told the M&G that there were already discussions around the possibility of Inkosi Zuzifa Buthelezi, the son of the late IFP founder and Zulu traditional prime minister, or prince Vanana Zulu replacing Buthelezi in the role.
“There are already names being put forward as people who could become traditional prime ministers if Buthelezi is removed from the role. There is pressure on the king to drop him with immediate effect,” the source said.
A source close to the ANC leadership said that there were concerns in the party about Buthelezi’s “abuse” of his portfolio to intervene in councils it controlled and in eThekwini, where he became involved in a public spat with mayor Cyril Xaba over the Section 158 intervention.
Buthelezi referred comments on the postponement of the office opening to the premier for comment.
He said that he was aware of a plan to remove him from office in his role as traditional prime minister.
“I am aware of moves to drive a wedge between his majesty and myself, as his traditional prime minister, but I will continue to exercise my duties with the utmost loyalty and dedication to his majesty,” Buthelezi said, declining to comment further.
ANC spokesperson Mafika Mndebele did not respond to questions from the M&G regarding the premier’s intervention and whether the party had raised issues around Buthelezi with Ntuli.