The ANC in KZN is desperate to stay in power, but it has not confirmed the allegations of horse-trading with the NFP.
The president of the National Freedom Party (NFP), Ivan Barnes, has denied allegations that he has received a sweet deal from the African National Congress (ANC) to keep his party in the provincial unity government (GPU) in KwaZulu-Natal(KZN).
According to media reports, Barnes and senior ANC leaders in KZN met last Saturday to discuss the NFP’s decision to leave the GPU. It is in this meeting that the ANC delegations allegedly offered Barnes a number of options to convince him to keep his party in the GPU, including a position in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet.
However, in a statement on Monday, Barnes denied these allegations.
“We must emphasise that the NFP approached these engagements strictly to listen to what the ANC had to present. At no point was the NFP in a position to propose, negotiate, or accept any offers.
“Importantly, no proposal was made to cater for the NFP president as falsely claimed,” said Barnes.
He said the discussions were simply limited to the reasons behind the NFP’s decision to leave the GPU in KZN.
“Similarly, the meeting with the MKP [uMkhonto weSizwe party] was convened solely for them to understand the implications of the NFP’s withdrawal from the GPU.
“It is in the public domain that the NFP has received invitations from the African National Congress (KZN PTT), the uMkhonto weSizwe party (MKP), and the KwaZulu-Natal DA,” said Barnes,” said Barnes.
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When will the NFP decide?
Despite all these meetings, Barnes said the NFP is not ready to commit to an agreement with any party.
For now, this means the ANC and its allies in the GPU hold a majority in the legislature, with 40 seats. The EFF has already pledged support for an MK party government in KZN; together, these two parties have 39 seats. This makes the NFP the kingmaker.
“Once all engagements with relevant parties have been concluded and internal processes finalised, the NFP will communicate its decisions openly and transparently to the media and to the people of South Africa, particularly the citizens of KwaZulu-Natal.”
Barnes said the party, which left the GPU after months of complaining about corruption, is still committed to the values of good governance.
“The NFP remains committed to principled leadership, constitutional adherence, and the renewal of our organisation in service of the people.”
NFP factional battles
The internal factions in the NFP last week manifested into a physical confrontation between Barnes and the chairperson of Uthukela District, Manqoba Dlamini.
Both leaders are on opposing factions of the party, and this confrontation happened on the sidelines of the disciplinary hearing of the party’s provincial chairperson, Mbali Shinga.
Police had to break the fight up before the two men harmed each other.
According to media reports, Barnes had instructed police to remove party members who were not supposed to be at the hearing.
He described these party members as “guys”, but Dlamini took offence to that, leading to an exchange of words.
Shinga is accused of failing to execute a party decision to vote in favour of the motion of no confidence against Premier Thami Ntuli.
She has the support of a faction in the party.
The NFP has also suspended its national chairperson, Shevu Mkhabela, for hosting a parallel media briefing last week. He has also been accused of being rogue and defying the party.
‘2026 will see a very unstable KZN’
Political analyst Andre Duvenhage told The Citizen that the NFP is under pressure from all sides to decide on who it supports to run the provincial government.
He said if the NFP chooses to support the MK party, that will boost the MK party side with one more vote, giving them 40 seats and leaving the ANC and its allies with 40. This will create a state mate in the legislature.
“I think if they reconstitute the coalition, it will damage the position of the ANC in a radical way. That is why the ANC is asking for these engagements with the NFP; they want to keep the GPU on track.
“This was the biggest province of the ANC, and now their support has been dramatically reduced; this has changed the future of politics in KZN,” he said.
Duvenhage believes that, despite the MK party receiving the most votes in KZN, it is not ready to preside over the province’s governance.
“I predict that 2026 will see a very unstable KZN, if the MK party gets a hold of that province, it’s going to be the worst-case scenario. They are an anti-system party; they do not even accept the Roman-Dutch law, which is the foundation of our constitution and our legal dispensation, so they are problematic in many ways,” he said.
Duvenhage believes that the MK party’s thirst to govern stems from its financial challenges and from its efforts to raise funds for the 2026 Local Government Elections.
“Zuma himself has financial problems as he risks losing Nkandla; he also has problems paying his legal fees,” said Duvenhage.
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