JOHN DLUDLU | Why KwaZulu-Natal remains a simmering volcano

Share current article via EmailShare current article via FacebookShare current article via TwitterShare current article via LinkedInJohn DludluColumnist

ExpandSome observers of KwaZulu-Natal’s politics believe that if March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma had set up a political party she would easily win many municipalities in that province, the writer says. Picture: Sandile Ndlovu On the eve of South Africa’s first all-race elections in 1994, the country was on tenterhooks. Many variables were at play: while the ANC, soon-to-be the governing party, had abandoned the armed struggle, the apartheid regime was still fuelling internecine conflict.

The violence occurred mainly in the townships of the then Natal and Transvaal.

If the violence was the soundtrack to the movie, the main script was the threatened boycott of the elections by Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s IFP. Its main demand was for federal powers for KwaZulu, including control over portions of Natal.

Thanks to a fudge, brokered at the last minute between FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela by Kenyan academic Washington Okumu, a deal was struck enabling the IFP to be stitched onto the 1994 ballot paper. That deal, for lack of a better word, has become the original wound. Until it’s fully resolved, KwaZulu-Natal will remain volatile.

To be clear, it would be intellectually dishonest to suggest that KwaZulu-Natal is the only province itching to secede. At every opportunity the Western Cape, under the control of the DA, demands more powers over police, transport and other public services.

In parts of Limpopo people speak fondly of former homeland leaders such as Hudson Ntsanwisi. Earlier this month the Madlanga commission, probing corruption and criminality within the criminal justice system, heard evidence from Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni, an Mpumalanga taxi boss.

Throughout his testimony Sibanyoni, who is charged with extortion, struggled to bring himself to accept that KwaNdebele, a former self-governing territory, no longer exists. Though a taxi boss in Mpumalanga, he self-identifies with parts of so-called KwaNdebele as his constituency.

But in many other ways KwaZulu-Natal is unique. For a start, it lacks ethnic diversity; it’s predominantly a Zulu-speaking province. Its economy is diverse but less financialised, and for the longest time it has been run by a combination of traditional, urban and national authorities. Coalition politics hasn’t worked well for the province, and the anchors of uneasy order are at their weakest. Finally, it has a history of violence.

The other provinces are ethnically diverse and have less capacity to export instability to other parts of the country. Case in point: after the controversial incarceration of Jacob Zuma in July 2021, violence erupted in KwaZulu-Natal and spread to parts of Gauteng and, briefly, to Mpumalanga.

Coalition politics hasn’t worked well for the province, and the anchors of uneasy order are at their weakest. Finally, it has a history of violence.

After the deaths of Mandela and De Klerk, Buthelezi and King Goodwill Zwelithini became the source of stability in the province. Even at his advanced age and with his troubled past, Buthelezi could still call out wrongdoing, especially xenophobic violence. However, his cousin, Zwelithini, struggled to maintain a coherent line.

Like Mandela and de Klerk, Buthelezi and Zwelithini are now no more. The void left by the pair and a relatively friendly central government was filled, albeit temporarily, by Zuma when he was president before he founded the MK party.

Once Zuma defected from the ANC — or was expelled — that back channel went dead. Worse, Zwelithini’s son and successor is distracted, fighting the wrong battles, such as his confusion about his role as head of a kingdom versus his aspirant one as head of state.

Like his father, he has not made up his mind about diversity or spelt out a compelling vision for his nation. Unsurprisingly, the gap has now been occupied by opportunists. The poster girl of this movement is Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, leader of the March and March movement.

Her most successful anti-immigrant rallies have been in Durban in the past two years. In Gauteng and the Western Cape they have been joined, intermittently, by Gayton McKenzie’s PA and Herman Mashaba’s ActionSA.

Hers is a single cause initiative: let all undocumented immigrants leave the country. This resonates with the millions of unemployed black youths and their parents (about 8.6-million) and the 16.7-million employed who have to support extended families.

Some observers of KwaZulu-Natal’s politics believe that if Ngobese-Zuma had set up a political party, she would win many municipalities in that province.

KwaZulu-Natal’s current leadership appears out of touch with the dynamics on the ground. The province is home to Africa’s busiest, but badly run, port — South Africa’s gateway to the world — and some multinationals. Yet the government believes it has a law-and-order problem. Last week it deployed the army as anti-immigrant protests turned violent.

The problem is both political and one of leadership. The national government needs a credible interlocutor to promote dialogue about peace in that vital province.

• Dludlu is a former editor of The Sowetan.

Would you like to comment on this article?Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.