John Matisonn: Fragile KZN government on a knife edge as ANC MECs face discipline

Key topics:Two ANC MECs face possible dismissal amid KZN coalition tensionsHealth and education crises spark protests, budget strain, union angerFragile coalition risks collapse as MKP, NFP pressure intensifies.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.The auditorium doors will open for BNIC#2 on 10 September 2025 in Hermanus. For more information and tickets, click here..By John Matisonn.A new political crisis in KwaZulu-Natal has put the fate of the provincial government in jeopardy after two of the ANC’s three MECs in the province face discipline by IFP Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli.Ntuli has asked the MEC for Education, Sipho Hlomuka, and the MEC for Health, Nomagugu Simelane-Mngadi to provide written explanations for controversial actions and promised a decision on their fate this week. Both held leadership positions in the provincial ANC until the executive was disbanded in February.Hlomuka has been under fire from teacher unions for delayed payment of Grade R teachers and non-payment of service providers. Health MEC Simelane-Mngadi faces criticism from disgruntled service providers for non-payment, and admitted that her department owed them R1.7 billion. Protestors barricaded the offices of the Department of Health last week. The two departments account for the lion’s share of the provincial budget.Hlomuka was the ANC’s deputy provincial secretary while Simelane-Mngadi was ANC deputy provincial chairperson in KZN before the provincial structure was reconfigured in February.Premier Ntuli said in a statement that he had written to both MECs to submit comprehensive reports responding to the allegations, and would provide “an appropriate and responsible course of action” this week.Ntuli’s government controls the provincial legislature by the thinnest of margins, with a coalition of only 41 out of 80 MPCs, which means he cannot afford to alienate the ANC. If he wishes to remove them he is expected to consult the provincial party to provide two replacements to avoid a government collapse..Read more:. Dirk Hartford – Constitutionalists v Nationalists with KZN the battleground.The government, formed in record time after the election losses last year, consists of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA), and the National Freedom Party (NFP) to keep out the Mkhonto weSizwe Party, which won 45% of the provincial vote. Since the formation of the Government of Provincial Unity, the ANC’s alliance partners in Cosatu and the South African Communist Party have complained that they were not being consulted. Unions in both health and education have also criticised those departments. Pressures on the NPU are also being felt from the MKP and NFP, which together could oust the government. Earlier this year the MKP appointed former ANC KZN premier Willies Mchunu as its KZN leader and tasked him with getting control of the provincial government.NFP president Irvin Barnes has previously expressed his frustration with the coalition government. If the NFP switched its support to the MKP the government could fall.The MKP was responsible for the ANC losing its national majority for the first time, declining from 54% in 2019 to only 17% in 2024, and took 45% of the provincial vote.

John Matisonn: Fragile KZN government on a knife edge as ANC MECs face discipline

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