Description of problem:

MCE will remove external CAPI resources (i.e. capi-system/capm3-system namespaces and all resources contained within), even if the related components (i.e. cluster_api, cluster_api_provider_metal3_preview) are disabled.

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):

2.9.0

How reproducible:

Consistently reproducible.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Install CAPI core and Metal3 provider, e.g.:

   clusterctl init --core cluster-api:v1.9.6 --bootstrap - --control-plane - --infrastructure metal3:v1.9.3
   

2. Install MCE operator

Actual results:

capi-system/capm3-system namespaces and all resources contained within are deleted, regardless of whether they were instantiated by MCE and whether cluster_api and cluster_api_provider_metal3_preview components are enabled.

Expected results:

Resources are only deleted by the MCE operator if they were created by MCE.

Additional info:

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QE Hand Off Template (fill out when moving to Review) 10/20/25:

Summary of the Work:
What was implemented or fixed? Include a brief description of the problem (if applicable) and how it was addressed.
e.g., "Updated the UI to show validation errors for the form. The previous implementation did not surface backend validation issues."

Key Areas to Verify:

1. What functionality should QE focus on? List what was tested or what is most important to validate.
2. Ensure the new validation messages appear for required fields
3. Confirm the workflow still completes as expected after validation fixes
4. Any edge cases or high-risk areas touched by the change

Fix or Feature Availability:
When will this be available in a build?
Code merged on: YYYY-MM-DD
Expected downstream build tag (if known): example-build-tag
(Optional) Related PR(s): Link