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Sechaba ka’Nkosi
Inkatha Freedom Party moderates have bounced back to centre stage in championing the party’s election campaign for next year.
As the IFP grapples with its image as a Zulu-based provincial outfit, its national council has carefully avoided choosing people associated with violence in KwaZulu- Natal and Gauteng in the 1990s to lead its election campaign.
As the party plotted the future during its 23rd national conference in Ulundi last week, Phillip Powell, David Ntombela, Nyanga Ngubane and Mario Ambrosini did not feature prominently.
IFP president Mangosuthu Buthelezi made it clear during his address to the conference that the party has moved away from anti-African National Congress rhetoric to a more pragmatic approach.
Reminding delegates that the presence of ANC president Thabo Mbeki and treasurer general Mendi Msimango at the conference did not mean differences between the two parties have been sorted out, he warned that the elections would not only be based on those differences.
“We cannot allow this election campaign to become an opportunity for mud- slinging and for an escalating trading of political insults,” said Buthelezi. “We must allow debates to flourish, which undoubtedly requires free and robust political criticism when it is due.
“However, we should avoid calling on the electorate to vote for the dog that barks the loudest, for he is not necessarily the one who will bite the hardest in the end.”
Moderate heavyweights such as Lionel Mtshali, Joe Mathews, Faith Gasa, Ellen kaNkosi Shandu and the relatively unknown Ben Skosana were assigned the crucial provinces of the Eastern Cape, North-West, Northern Province, Mpumalanga and Gauteng respectively. The task of retaining the IFP stronghold in KwaZulu-Natal has been left to Ben Ngubane, the provincial premier and the party’s national chair.
The sacking of Minister of Correctional Services Sipho Mzimela as the party’s deputy national chair and a scathing attack on the ANC’s provincial leadership were also seen as strategic sacrifices by Buthelezi to make to appease the membership.
This year’s gathering was marked by an absence of the drama and rhetoric that has characterised previous IFP conferences.
The role of traditional leaders, the devolution of more powers to provinces and the attitude of the party towards the Truth and Reconciliation Commission were mentioned as points thwarting hopes of a merger and long-term co- operation between the IFP and the ANC.
Buthelezi told delegates political hatred is still part of the agenda in some ANC circles. “This is a painful reality that we cannot wish away and which is jeopardising the possibility of national consensus.”
IFP election committee head Johan Ngcobo admitted that while the party cannot wish for an outright victory in all provinces, it is happy to focus its energies on consolidating areas which could give it the potential to shed its image as a province-based, predominantly Zulu party.
“We have decided to use our own structures from all levels of governance to ensure we win the elections next year. At the moment some of those structures are already in operation and some are still being nurtured,” said Ngcobo.
Conspicuously absent from the party’s election programme was the exact role traditional leaders are expected to play in the campaign. The fact that most traditional leaders are openly aligned to the IFP is seen by opposition parties – particularly the ANC – as a stumbling block to permanent peace in the province.