MEC ‘Skaftin’ calls the IFP out as worse than the ANC
DA-IFP tensions expose deeper governance concerns
The total collapse of the working relationship between the DA and the IFP in local government was made abundantly clear last month when DA caucus leader in the KZN Provincial Legislature and Finance MEC,
Francois Rodgers, stated in a public meeting that, “When it comes to governance at a local level, the IFP are worse at governance than the ANC are… And that’s a fact.”
Rodgers was addressing the community of Newcastle on September 22 after visiting a pump station that services an area in the town that had been without water for about two weeks.
Reflecting on the fact that it was only DA wards affected by the weeks-long disruption to water supply, Rodgers proclaimed, “That is not a coincidence. It’s orchestrated.”
He went on to present ‘shocking’ statistics regarding Newcastle Municipality to support his assertion about poor governance on the part of the local IFP leadership, saying, “I look at the financial outcomes and the results as the MEC of Finance to see what is happening on the ground.”
According to Rodgers, in its 2024/2025 financials, Newcastle Municipality overstated its property and equipment by R45 million.
“That’s fraud. It’s similar to if you had a business and you wanted to make the balance sheet good, so you inflated your assets,” he explained.
“It gets worse than that,” he continued. “Newcastle recorded an operating deficit of R484 million. This means that this municipality overspent its budget by nearly half a billion rand.”
In addition to this, revenue collection declined to 76%, and 70% of the debt owed to Newcastle Municipality is more than a year old.
“Who does it affect?” Rodgers asked the Newcastle public. “It affects you. That money should have been in the municipal coffers to fix the water infrastructure I went to see today.”
Rodgers went on to disclose that Newcastle Municipality takes an average of 217 days (nearly eight months) to pay service providers.
“but I bet if you are an IFP card carrying member, you will get paid within 30 days, which is when service providers should be paid,” added Rodgers, who then referred to Newcastle Municipality as ‘an employment agency for the IFP’.
“The nightmare gets worse,” said Rodgers. “Newcastle incurred R467 million in unauthorised expenditure. That is money it should never have spent. It incurred R26.5 million in irregular expenditure.”
He continued that, “By law, municipalities should be spending 8% of its total budget on maintenance.
“Newcastle Municipality is only spending 1.6% of its budget on maintenance.”
Rodgers says principle must come before politics
Rodgers, whose experience in finance includes having worked as an auditor for the South African Revenue Service (SARS), disclosed that he has earned the nickname MEC ‘Skaftin’ (Zulu slang for ‘lunch box’) within the KZN Finance Department, after refusing to cater for staff meals if they were also claiming S and T (subsistence and travelling).
“When I refused to use public funds to pay for staff Christmas parties, they called me ‘The Grinch who Stole Christmas’, but we have to put principle ahead of politics. It’s how we were able to redirect money through budgets and controls to make sure that we can support front-line departments like Education, Health and Social Development. When you put politics ahead of principle, that’s why Newcastle Municipality is in a mess,” said Rodgers.
“Imagine what you could achieve if you had leaders who would put principle ahead of politics.”
Rodgers pointed out examples of poor governance in other IFP-led municipalities, saying he had visited Ladysmith the day before and Utrecht that morning.
“In Utrecht, I saw a roads project that cost R65 million for 1.8km of road and it’s still not finished,” he said.
Thys Janse van Rensburg, a DA councillor in uThukela District Municipality, said it became clear to the party from as early as 2022 that the relationship between the DA and the IFP in that municipality was crumbling and, by 2024, it had collapsed completely.
“The agreement we (the DA) had with the IFP was a service agreement borne of the fact that we are now in a time of coalitions. The time when we had one ruling party governing is over. We will never have that again in South Africa,” explained Van Rensburg.
Rodgers shared the sentiment, “Here’s the reality …The voters no longer trust one party.
“They told us that in 2024 (during the national government elections). They said they need some other form of governance, co-operative governance.
“The ANC learned a valuable lesson when its support went from 56% in the province to 18%. After 2024, they were eating humble pie. The ANC told me they would govern until Jesus returns. Clearly, Jesus returned in KZN because they no longer govern.”
Van Rensuburg said it was clear to him, after less than a year in office, that the IFP leadership in the uThukela District was not going to deliver services.
“We now play the role of the opposition. We pushed through two forensic investigations, although none of the recommendations were acted upon,” he said.
The DA in uThukela has since sought the dissolution of the uThukela District Council, according to Van Rensburg.
In Newcastle, community activists are asking why DA councillors supported the IFP leadership in both the local and district municipalities in Amajuba if poor governance was evident.
Chairman of the Newcastle & District Residents Forum (NDRF), Matthew Shunmugam, said he agreed with Rodgers about the IFP, but asked, “Then why did the DA ‘get married to them (the IFP)’? Who supported them (IFP councillors) being elected into leadership positions? The numbers were 47 against 22 in the council inauguration and DA councillors were among the 47. The DA helped put them (the IFP) into office.”
It should be noted that the NDRF, while officially an NPO, has registered with the IEC to contest the local government elections this November.
Ferdie Alberts, who spoke on behalf of the Newcastle branch of AfriForum, asked, “Why did the DA then form a coalition with the worst party to govern?
“Was it just to get the ANC out? Even though the relationship between the IFP and the DA seems to have soured over the last couple of months, they enjoyed their time together.
“What they are doing now is too little, too late.
“Why didn’t the DA councillors play their role while they were in office?”
The Northern Natal News contacted IFP speaker of the Newcastle council, Cllr Thengi Zulu, for comment, but none was received at the time of going to print.
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