NATIONAL NEWS - The African Independent Congress (AIC) has sent a stern warning to the African National Congress (ANC) saying if the party continues to postpone and delay the incorporation of Matatiele back into KwaZulu-Natal it will wake up without control of the only metro it governs in Gauteng.

The party says a meeting scheduled for this weekend to discuss the matter has been postponed by the ruling party.

The AIC was formed in protest to the demarcation of Matatiele into the Eastern Cape.

After the ANC failed to win an outright majority in last year’s local government elections, it went into a coalition with the independent congress, to gain control of Ekurhuleni and Rustenburg.

The ANC said this week that it would meet with the AIC on Sunday, with discussions led by ANC National Executive Committee member and Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe.

But the AIC says the party has cancelled the meeting, stating that Radebe, who is part of a delegation representing South Africa at the World Economic Forum, won’t be available this weekend.

The party’s President Mandala Galo has given the ANC till the end of March to come up with a deal.

“If to date there is nothing tangible. We are pulling out of the coalition.”