• The Economic Freedom Fighters say they will join the KwaZulu-Natal debate but will not vote on the MK Party motion.
• The Inkatha Freedom Party and African National Congress work together in KwaZulu-Natal, making the MK Party plan to remove Thami Ntuli unlikely.

The Economic Freedom Fighters in KwaZulu-Natal refuse to back the uMkhonto weSizwe Party's plan to remove Premier Thami Ntuli.

EFF spokesperson Chris Msibi says the party will take part in the debate on Thursday but will not vote. He says they reject anything brought by the uMkhonto weSizwe Party.

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"We will abstain because we do not support anything that comes with the MK Party," he says. "We would have supported the motion if it came with all black political parties. The only thing we will do is participate in the debate."

The EFF and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party worked together briefly after the 2024 general elections. They presented themselves as a united bloc of black progressive parties.

But that partnership fell apart when the uMkhonto weSizwe Party started recruiting high-profile EFF members. Since then, the two parties have clashed often, even in the National Assembly, where tensions between Julius Malema and Sibonelo Nomvalo spill over.

The uMkhonto weSizwe Party hopes a secret ballot will help them, but it is up to Speaker Nontembeko Boyce to approve it.

Chief whip Bonginkosi Mngadi says Ntuli is unfit to lead the province. He says Ntuli has failed to create jobs and misled the legislature about a trip to New York.

But Ntuli is likely to stay in office. The Inkatha Freedom Party and the African National Congress recently repaired their relationship. Their new cooperation makes it almost impossible for the uMkhonto weSizwe Party to gather enough support.

The motion is brought by party leader Inkosi Phathisizwe Chiliza.