Calls for calm in KZN
2003-01-06 17:27
Johannesburg - Political parties and business have appealed for political stability in KwaZulu-Natal, while the country's largest labour federation warned of a new wave of violence should early elections be called.
However, a war of words between the Inkatha Freedom Party and African National Congress escalated on Monday ahead of a possible showdown in the provincial legislature later this week, with the IFP reacting angrily to an ANC threat of mass action.
The IFP and Democratic Alliance are widely expected to vote for the dissolution of the provincial legislature at a special sitting on Wednesday, making a new election necessary.
The proposed election is seen as a bid to block efforts by the ANC to push through new floor-crossing legislation that would give it effective control over the provincial government.
If the legislature votes in favour of dissolution, KwaZulu-Natal premier, the IFP's Lionel Mtshali, could call new elections within 90 days, although the legislative framework to hold such an election is not yet in place.
In a statement, IFP national spokesperson Musa Zondi dismissed comments by ANC provincial executive member Dumisani Makhaye warning of mass-action should the IFP dissolve the legislature as "political diatribes and ranting".
It was a desperate response to the IFP's campaign to "save democracy", he said.
Way of violence
"Makhaye's threat of rolling-mass action is totally in keeping with the ANC's provincial record of disruption and discord in KwaZulu-Natal, in which human rights are trampled and the way of violence is chosen.
"It is replete with irony that Makhaye suggests that the IFP and DA were agents of apartheid, when it is his party, the ANC, which has embraced the NNP (New National Party), the architect and government of apartheid, in a macabre Faustian pact."
Makhaya reportedly said the ANC would make the province "ungovernable and unworkable" through mass action, strikes, and court action, should the IFP/DA alliance decide to dissolve the legislature.
President Thabo Mbeki interrupted his leave to attend an ANC leadership meeting in Johannesburg on Monday to discuss the looming legislative crisis.
Presidential spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said the government was not, at this stage, considering invoking section 100 of the Constitution if the IFP and its allies dissolved the legislature on Wednesday.
"Government will seek clarity from the KZN government on what it aims to do," he said.
The Congress of SA Trade Union (Cosatu), the ANC's alliance partner, said in a statement a new election could raise political temperatures and fuel a new wave of violence in the province.
"It could cause a return to the violence which led to lives being lost on a daily basis in KZN, Gauteng and Mpumalanga before the reconciliation between the IFP and ANC eight years ago.
"The main victims of such violence would not be the political leaders whose brinkmanship caused the violence but ordinary working people and their families.
"For their sakes, Cosatu urges restraint and the resolution of political differences through peaceful negotiation."
The Durban Chamber of Business urged political stability in the province to ensure investor confidence.
"We have been working closely with provincial and local government to ensure that business confidence in Durban is on the rise. We don't want to see a deterioration and political instability," the chamber's chief executive Jeya Wilson told Sapa.
Responsible political solution
The NNP - which broke away from the DA in 2001 and has formed a coalition with the ANC - wanted a "responsible political solution" to the impasse.
NNP secretary general Daryl Swanepoel said in a statement the crisis in the province was of a political nature and, should reason prevail, need not lead to a constitutional crisis.
"Should the crisis follow the current path, it will involve the Constitutional Court as referee on a political question. This should not be the role of the court."
He said the NNP was opposed to the IFP and the DA's "irresponsible attempt" to enforce an election as a waste of valuable resources.
Zondi said the impression that an election would be a waste of money was wrong, because a new legislature's term would run until 2008.
National and provincial elections are due to be held across the country next year.
The KwaZulu-Natal legislature has 80 members. The IFP has 34, the ANC 32, the DA 7, the NNP 3, the ACDP one, the UDM also one, and the Minority Front has two members.
- SAPA