MEDIA STATEMENT BY THE
INKATHA
FREEDOM PARTY
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August 20th 2007 Dear residents of KwaZulu
Natal, The KwaZulu Natal Provincial Parliament has once again jettisoned its role as an independent oversight body and, instead, proved that its overriding ambition is to advance the interests of the ruling party. A long overdue multi-party forum, which was to review the controversial initiative of Taking Parliament to the People, has, unsurprisingly, disregarded all substantial objections from the opposition and wrapped up with a plan to take Parliament to the troubled Abaqulusi Municipality in October. If Taking Parliament to the People has been a costly exercise aimed at consolidating the ANC presence in the areas traditionally dominated by the IFP, what can one make of Parliament’s proposed pilgrimage to Vryheid? Is this not an obvious clash between two separate spheres of government? Whatever inter-party squabbles there may be in Abaqulusi, they are a matter for local government. The corresponding institution at local level to deal constructively with any municipal crisis is the relevant district municipality. The corresponding body at provincial level to tackle any ‘local difficulty’ that may arise in the province is the Department of Local Government, not Parliament. Apparently Parliament is being summoned to Vryheid by letters from concerned individuals. In a way, it is encouraging to see Parliament responding so briskly to correspondence from unidentified persons when the opposition Members of Parliament wait to have their letters answered for months on end. Equally important is the question why the ANC-controlled national Parliament did not rush to Khutsong where more pressing issues were at stake and where the majority of population would have welcomed an intervention. Our Parliament’s decision to interfere in Abaqulusi will have tragic consequences. Not only is it an attack on the independence of Parliament, it also runs against the principle of separation of powers. Once again Parliament has been rendered a rudderless ship, floating without aim or direction.
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