But deputy mayoral candidate in eThikwini accused him of siding with foreigners rather than locals, sparking a fallout in the IFP, with Ntuli’s backers accusing Skhakhane of being an agent whose sole mission was to destroy the IFP from the inside
Despite facing a political backlash after the deployment of soldiers in KwaZulu-Natal, Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli insists he made the right decision.
“As the premier who is also directly in charge of community safety, I carry a responsibility to protect life and property. That responsibility is not subject to a popularity barometer. Those who observed the July 2021 riots would remember that deadly chaos spread very fast. We learnt a lesson from that. KwaZulu-Natal will never be allowed to burn again,” Ntuli said.
The KZN provincial cabinet requested the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF) support to quell the anti-illegal immigration demonstrations in Durban that flared up last week.
The precursor to the protests, which turned into a full-scale bloody brawl, was a Constitutional Court directive that compelled the department of home affairs to accept foreign nationals applying for asylum, regardless of whether they were in the country legally.
The marchers initially staged a protest outside an immigration reception centre in eThekwini metro’s Che Guevara Road (formerly Moore Road), demanding that the applications be halted.
The protesters subsequently took their war to other streets in the eThekwini metro. The standoff and running battles between locals and the police degenerated into looting, including the attack on businesses and the torching of buildings and vehicles.
The angry demonstrators also threatened to stop the MTN 8 Cup final which was being hosted at the Moses Mabhida stadium on Saturday, leading to the immediate deployment of the military. The game went ahead as scheduled.
The SANDF’s deployment prompted Sizwe Skhakhane, aka “Mavava” in social media circles, to rebuke Ntuli’s decision. Skhakhane is the IFP’s eThekwini deputy mayoral candidate for the upcoming municipal elections while Ntuli is the party’s provincial chairperson.
“It’s clear that this is not the Mphemba (Ntuli clan name) that works for the citizens of KwaZulu-Natal. But instead, he works for foreign nationals. I stand with the community and residents of the province. If ordinary citizens are prepared to die for this country. I’m also prepared to be counted among those people,” Skhakhane said.
The comment sparked a fallout in the IFP, with Ntuli’s backers accusing Skhakhane of being an agent whose sole mission was to destroy the IFP from the inside.
Skhakhane is believed to be aligned with Velenkosini Hlabisa, the IFP president and minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs. Hlabisa is seeking re-election to the helm of the party in an elective conference yet to be confirmed.
Although previously denied by Ntuli, his faction is calling for change and for Hlabisa to be replaced by Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi, the minister of public service and administration, in the next party congress.