Durban - The IFP will hold a media briefing at its headquarters in Durban this morning following the announcement by EFF leader Julius Malema that the Red Berets are ending their working relationship with the party.
Speaking at a party gathering in Gauteng yesterday, Malema indicated that they were splitting with the IFP by recalling all its deputy mayors in municipalities where the two parties were co-governing.
The EFF leader referred to the IFP as “apartheid collaborators”, telling their members that they would not work with a party that refused to change.
“We don’t want to see the IFP government in any government where we are involved. All EFF deputy mayors must resign with immediate effect,” Malema said.
The EFF leader’s statement has led to questions on what prompted the move, with some suggestions that the IFP had been asked by its partner to hand over some of the municipalities.
The EFF had entered into a pact with the IFP to remove the ANC in many municipalities after the 2021 local government elections taking councils including Danhauser, Newcastle and uMhlathuze.
Approached for comment, IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa told “The Mercury” yesterday that he had been at a meeting with party president Velenkosini Hlabisa.
“Everything will be explained in tomorrow’s briefing and therefore there is nothing for me to say on the matter,” said Hlengwa.
While refraining from commenting, Hlengwa had commented on a post on social media that the IFP had refused to give up uMhlathuze Municipality.
“Our crime was our refusal to hand over uMhlathuze,” he wrote in Zulu.
Political analyst Thabani Khumalo said the latest development was an illustration of the volatile nature of coalition governments, especially when there was a partner such as the EFF involved.
“When this relationship came about, I warned about its foundation and the prospect of it lasting. This weekend’s developments have demonstrated what happens when such arrangements are entered into by parties that are opposed to each other,” said Khumalo.
He cited the EFF’s past working arrangements with the DA and the ANC as an indication that it made adjustments when it worked for them.
“Working with a party that does not have a firm standpoint that is known by everyone and that simply changes its spots when convenient is not good at all,” Khumalo said.
He commended the IFP for refusing to give uMhlathuze Municipality away if such a demand was made, adding that the municipality was crucial for the party to demonstrate its ability to govern and deliver services ahead of elections.
“We have seen how, through mayor Christopher Pappas, the DA in uMngeni Municipality has shown its ability to govern and meet the needs of the local citizenry and how that has many people talking about other options available to them,” he said.
He added that the latest breakdown in relations has shown that in some instances, coalition arrangements are entered into in pursuit of individual interests and not the public good.