Former African National Congress (ANC) KwaZulu-Natal Secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli has acknowledged that there will be very little time for him to rest this festive season as he has to familiarise himself with all facets of his new role as Chief Whip of a weakened ANC in parliament.
Speaking to Sunday Tribune this week, Ntuli admitted that when he was posted to parliament after the May 29 elections, he knew that he had a massive task before him, but did not realise the massive nature of it.
He described the second half of the year as one with important lessons, and a great scope for growth as he had to deal with unknown experiences in his new role.
“Basically, I have no reference point because all chief whips before me operated in an environment where the ANC enjoyed majority party status, where six out of eleven members on each portfolio committee were ours. As you know things have changed,” Ntuli said referring to the elections where the ANC experienced heavy losses.
The presence of uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) with some well read individuals presented an additional challenge to the ANC.
The MKP took a sizeable number of votes from the ruling party, ensuring that its control in the National Assembly was reduced significantly.
He explained that while in the past they could rely on the numbers they held as a majority party when seeking to pass a certain legislation, under the new conditions they had to understand the conditions in which they were working and develop ways of presenting compelling arguments to their opponents.
In addition to this the ANC had a fine balance of representation between returning Members of Parliament (MPs) and new ones, including Ntuli himself and some opponents including Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and MKP MPs were quick to spot and exploit this.
“You will have an instance where one comes across very sharp MPs from the other side who will insist that this was not how business was conducted when Pam Majodina was the Chief Whip, the problem with that is I can’t call her straight away because she has her own challenges as a cabinet member now. So that is the nature of the beast,” said Ntuli.
Under the new arrangement there was no time for any member to sleep on the job as that was likely to cost the ANC when it came to the formulation of legislation.
Part of his duty as chief whip is to ensure that ruling party members attend plenary sessions and vote on the legislation in the National Assembly.
The recent standoff between the ANC and the Democratic Alliance, its Government of National Unity partner over the Basic Education Laws Act, the National Health Insurance and the opposition to the inclusion of former judge John Hlophe in the Judicial Services Commission, were prime examples of the tough conditions in parliament in the new term.
One of his disadvantages, Ntuli said, was that he had not served as a public representative at provincial or national level.
“So, in all probability I will rest for just one week and then hit the books so that I have an understanding of parliament as an institution, its rules and how to navigate difficulties that are part and parcel of the position,” he said.
He indicated that this was likely to be the experience of other ANC MPs who made their debut after elections, as the year ahead promises to be a bumpy ride.