The local radio station likened it to an office Christmas party. The people who snap and snarl at each other all year round end up in bed together at the end of the evening. Such is the state of politics in South Africa at the moment. One political party - the Minority Front - with the following of the Indian community, has become the most sought after guest at the election party, and their choice of partner could be disastrous.

The results of South Africa's 2nd democratic elections held on 2 June 1999 were interesting to say the least. That the African National Congress would retain power was never an issue, everyone knew they would. The question was, would they attain a two-thirds majority? This would allow them to run government and make constitutional changes with very little opposition - a dangerous situation.

The votes were eventually counted and verified. The African National Congress fell one seat short of their two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, with just under 67% of the vote. An indication of the in-fighting and irresponsible politicking showed in the results of the remaining parties. The official opposition, the Democratic Party, attained less than 10% of the vote. The other parties who won seats in the National Assembly ranged from 8% of the vote downwards.

The provincial results for Kwa Zulu-Natal were equally interesting. This province is traditionally the home of the Zulu nation. The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) was born in Kwa Zulu-Natal; its membership is largely Zulu. The IFP have been running Kwa Zulu-Natal for the past five years.

Zulus are generally an aggressive, war-hungry people. Those slightly familiar with South African History will know about the Zulu wars, the Battle of Blood River, and other famous conflicts. Many people have seen the film "Shaka Zulu". Kwa Zulu-Natal is the home of all this bloodshed.

Conflict between the Zulu and other tribes has continued in varying degrees of intensity over the years. However, clever campaigning, combined possibly with increased levels of education and awareness, has increased the urban support for the African National Congress (ANC) in the province.

As the vote counting progressed we held our breath, as the ANC and IFP ran neck and neck from the beginning. Tension increased when the ANC took a marginal lead, and there were sighs of relief when the IFP surged ahead again. The final result saw the IFP ahead by a mere 19,000 votes. In the Provincial Legislature the IFP had 34 seats and the ANC 32. Discussions on a coalition government started, but with the IFP happy that they had the upper hand, albeit by a tiny margin.

Enter the Minority Front, with its one seat in the National Assembly and two seats in the Kwa Zulu-Natal Provincial Legislature.

No-one will ever know exactly what made the Minority Front leader, Mr. Amichand Rajbansi, decide to align his party with the ANC. But his statement "All I want is for the ANC to look after the Indian population" is widely disbelieved. The party was supported by Indians who felt, for whatever reason, that the ANC were not supporting their needs.

Amichand Rajbansi has sold out his own supporters to the very party they were supporting him against. In one fell swoop he has handed the ANC a two-thirds majority nationally, and put them on an equal footing in a province that regularly teeters on the brink of civil war. The in-fighting has started already. The IFP had asked the ANC to join it in a provincial coalition government under the Premiership of Lionel Mtshali. Now that the parties have an equal number of seats, the ANC feel that the Premiership to go to their provincial chairman, S'bu Ndebele. The IFP leader Inkosi - Magosuthu Buthelezi - is also being thrown into the pot, with the rumours of possible IFP concessions that could be made if Buthelezi is offered Deputy Presidency of the country.

Whatever is decided by the well-educated, well-fed politicians about who will get which portfolio and who will get which parcel of power is immaterial to the politically naive, rural Zulu supporters of the Inkatha Freedom Party. They will see the situation as the ANC snatching power away from the IFP, even though the IFP received the most votes.

There will be only one outcome to this - and we're waiting for the bloodshed to begin.