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A political storm has erupted over reports that President Thabo Mbeki's office will wrest control of the drafting of the Immigration Bill from Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has warned that this would jeopardise its participation in government. IFP spokesman Musa Zondi said the move would be a vote of no confidence in Buthelezi, the president of the IFP.
In a resolution adopted at the weekend, the IFP's national council, the highest decision-making body of the party, called on Mbeki to intervene in order to "secure the continued constructive viability of the coalition government".
The Financial Mail reported last week that Mbeki is to put his office in charge of rewriting the bill, and that the cabinet's investment and employment committee which Mbeki chairs will take charge of overhauling migration policy.
The plans reflect Mbeki's renewed urgency in attracting investment and foreign skills, but they have placed him on a collision course with Buthelezi.
There are indications that the African National Congress (ANC) component of the cabinet is backing away from confrontation with the IFP leader. It is understood that several cabinet members gave Buthelezi an assurance at a meeting last week that he would not lose jurisdiction over the bill. Minister in the Office of the Presidency Essop Pahad was at the meeting. It seems Buthelezi was not satisfied with the assurance, as Zondi said yesterday the IFP wanted the presidency to publicly clarify whether the report was true or not.
Mbeki's spokesman, Bheki Khumalo, referred inquiries to chief government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe, who said his impression was that the report was untrue. The matter would be clarified at cabinet level, and not through "public discourse". Relations between the ANC and IFP in government were "deeper and more profound than media reports", he said.
It is understood that the bill is due to be discussed in the cabinet this week and that the major sticking point is its proposal of an immigration service which would oversee the administration of the law.
ANC members fear that the new service would have excessive autonomy.
The row may reflect heightening tension between Buthelezi and ANCaligned home affairs director-general Billy Masetlha.
Zondi said if the report was untrue, it would be a "huge relief". However, the party doubted this, as Masetlha was quoted extensively on the matter.
The IFP resolution said the article clearly suggested a "crisis in relation to the presidency, the minister, and the director-general".
Zondi said the reported plans "fly in the face" of the understanding that led to the IFP accepting Mbeki's offer to serve in the cabinet. "It raises questions about the continued utility of the IFP in government," he said.
Zondi said Buthelezi and Masetlha were at "cross purposes, to say the very least". It seemed that Masetlha was pursuing a programme in the department that was in "conflict" with Buthelezi's directives, Zondi said.
Buthelezi recently said he could no longer tolerate defiance from senior officials, and if they did not want to accept his authority, they should leave.
However, Zondi said Buthelezi was not pushing for Masetlha's dismissal. He merely wanted Masetlha to contribute "positively" to the running of the department. Masetlha was unavailable for comment.
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