IFP willing to sit in opposition over unstable coalitions
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) says it will not enter coalition governments simply for the sake of political power, warning it is prepared to sit on the opposition benches if negotiations fail to produce stable arrangements.
The party says it has received proposals from the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), ActionSA and the Democratic Alliance (DA), while it has also reached out to the African National Congress (ANC).
IFP National Spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa says its coalition decisions will be guided by its manifesto, with service delivery and stable governance among its priorities.
“And of course, the basic minimum program of service delivery and priorities will be determined by those documents written by whatever political parties will be bringing. We remain committed to stable, functional and efficient councils. And therefore, we are not prepared to govern for the sake of governing. If there’s no clear path forward, the IFP will not be participating in governing those municipalities and will take the opposition benches. However, we feel confident that we’ve got solid proposals.”
Meanwhile, the DA in KwaZulu-Natal has ruled out coalition arrangements with the MK Party and EFF, citing differences in political principles and policies.
Provincial leader Sithembiso Ngema says: “We are not unfortunately going to co-govern with the MKP and the EFF. And it’s not personal; it’s for simple reasons: how do you go to government with a party that cannot manage its own financial affairs? How do you co-govern with a party that always changes its leadership? In two years, they have changed their secretary general eight times. There is always chaos within the party, especially when it comes to leadership, and we do not want that. We want a municipality that is going to deliver to our people; we don’t want chaos.”
MKP disputes outcome
On the other hand, the MKP members have held a picket outside the party’s provincial offices in Durban, disputing the outcome of the 2026 local government elections and claiming the party won over 60% of the votes in eThekwini.
The Electoral Commission (IEC) declared the elections free and fair on Sunday.
It has yet to respond to the protesters’ allegations.
Some protesters allege that discrepancies between result slips collected by party agents in various wards and the IEC scoreboard point to possible manipulation.
“There is a discrepancy between the slips collected from the VD’s and the score card that was shown to us at the end. The slips brought in by the party agents are not reflective of the scoreboard, so the question is how they are inputting the data from the voting districts to the scoreboard. Who is responsible for that? Because once the votes are collected and are taken to where they are captured, no one sees what happens,” says one protester.
-Report by Gcinokuhle Malinga
