ANC promises 'something good' for Ivan Barnes to save GPU

IN AN ATTEMPT to save the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU), the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has promised to find “something good” for NFP president Ivan Barnes.

- WILLEM PHUNGULA and SIPHO JACK

The two parties met on Saturday where the ANC listened to the NFP’s concerns which led to the party’s withdrawal from the GPU. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the senior party members who was part of the meeting said the meeting centered around on what opportunites existed for Barnes in political office.

After its recent withdrawal from the GPU, all the GPU parties reached out to the NFP leadership and asked for separate meetings. The NFP had previously cited the backtracking of the GPU partners from an earlier agreement - for it to run one municipality in KZN and a cabinet position in the Government of National Unity.

The source said that the NFP raised the issue that, as the president of the kingmaker party, Barnes was meant to be rewarded politically, but this had not taken place.

The source also revealed that the option of Barnes being appointed as a Deputy Minister by President Cyril Ramaphosa was discussed, however it was immediately taken off the table after the realisation that there are no vacancies because the president has already exhausted his constitutional prerogative to appoint people from outside Parliament.