THE African Independent Congress’s (AIC’s) dream of having Matatiele returned to KwaZulu-Natal will be realised only if there is an amendment to the Constitution.
The AIC has placed the reincorporation of the Matatiele into KwaZulu-Natal as a condition for entering into a coalition with the ANC in hung municipalities such as City of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay and Rustenburg.
The AIC was founded in 2005 in the Matatiele area in protest against the inclusion of the locality area in the Eastern Cape.
The Municipal Demarcation Board on Monday said it did not get involved in the country’s provincial boundaries. It was only mandated to consider and make changes to municipal and ward boundaries.
The legislatures of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal would have to approve the proposal for the change of the provincial boundary after consultations with the public.
Parliament would then need to pass an amendment bill for this to take place.
The amendment bill proposing the changes to the provincial boundary had to be approved by two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.
Matatiele was moved from KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern Cape in 2005. The next year the Constitutional Court found the move was invalid because there had been insufficient public consultation.
In a 2009 referendum, people voted to return Matatiele to KwaZulu-Natal. However nothing had happened since then.
AIC president Mandla Galo said the ANC had agreed to start negotiations in the provinces regarding Matatiele.
He said the party had agreed in principle to enter into coalitions with the ANC
Source: bdlive
