OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Thursday 6.30pm.
EXPELLED Inkatha Freedom Party member and former correctional services minister Sipo Mzimela announced he is joining the United Democratic Movement on Thursday, saying the party is well placed to lead South Africa into the new millennium.
UDM president, Bantu Holomisa, said a leadership position for Mzimela in the party’s KwaZulu-Natal structures will be discussed by the party.
Welcoming Mzimela to the UDM, Holomisa said the process was started by late UDM national secretary Sifiso Nkabinde, who had several meetings with Mzimela.
Mzimela — who once upset his IFP colleagues by saying that the IFP and ANC should merge — said it was felt by some that he should rejoin the African National Congress, his one-time political home.
“Such a step would be untenable since the IFP would most likely become a surrogate of the ANC after the elections,” he said.
Mzimela, who lost his seat in Parliament when he was expelled by the IFP this week, said the IFP’s action was prompted by his insistence that party matters should be handled in a free and open way. — AFP