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Johannesburg - The African Independent Congress and African National Congress have agreed to ensure that Matatiele is incorporated back into KwaZulu-Natal, from the Eastern Cape.
On Monday, the two parties signed a memorandum of understanding outlining a process to reverse the move, which took place in 2005, they said in a joint statement.
The AIC expected Matatiele to be back in KwaZulu-Natal by end of November. Residents unhappy with the incorporation had formed the AIC.
"The constitutional and legal compliance process will start to unfold next month," AIC general secretary Mahlubanzima Jafta said.
The party met the ANC's top six officials on Monday, after the AIC threatened to collapse coalition agreements in various municipalities, including Ekurhuleni, the only Gauteng metro the ANC governs.
The two organisations agreed on "political co-operation" in the Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality, the Rustenburg local municipality, Umkhanyakude district municipality, and other municipalities where both parties had representation.
Jafta said the meeting was robust.
"It was a give and take. Everyone came to the meeting with a sober mind and was determined to get a permanent agreement."
Both parties agreed to ensure that an agricultural college was opened in Matatiele, and that all rural roads connecting Lesotho and SA were tarred.
