Durban – The IFP will end days of speculation later on Wednesday when it announces its coalition partner in KwaZulu-Natal at the party’s head office in Durban.
The briefing comes after the party’s marathon meeting of the national council – the party’s highest decision-making authority between conferences – on Monday.
All indications point to a power deal between the IFP, DA, ANC and NFP to govern the hung KwaZulu-Natal province – which failed to get a clear majority in the May 29 elections.
This is the first time in 20 years that KZN has failed to get a single outright winner.
The IFP, DA, ANC and NFP grouping has 41 seats needed to govern the 80-member provincial legislature.
The IFP, the second-biggest party in KZN, brings to the coalition table 15 seats, and the ANC, which has unilaterally governed the province since 2004, has 15 while the DA has 11.
The struggling NFP comes with its crucial single seat, which will decide who governs the coastal province.
Despite having the highest number of seats at 37, the Jacob Zuma-backed uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) looks unlikely to govern the province after the ANC, DA, IFP and NFP decided to gang up on the newcomer.
Earlier, there was speculation that the MKP would collaborate with the IFP to co-govern the KZN province.
But President Cyril Ramaphosa’s proposal of a Government of National Unity (GNU) dealt such a possible coalition a hammer blow.
Meanwhile, the chairperson of the DA in KZN, Dean Macpherson, told the Daily News that they will unveil their preferred coalition partners to co-govern KZN on Friday at 10am.
The DA had previously repeatedly said it would never get into any coalition with the MKP and the EFF, which has two seats in KZN.
Macpherson would not be drawn into commenting about the party’s coalition partner, saying this would be unveiled on Friday.
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