The Inkatha Freedom Party, which shares the provincial government in KwaZulu-Natal with the ruling African National Congress, said on Friday it was sorry about an incident in which South African President Thabo Mbeki’s motorcade was hindered by a number of its supporters.
In a rare statement of apology for a political party, its spokesperson Musa Zondi, himself a deputy minister in the national government, said: ”The IFP is appalled and condemns unequivocally the actions of a number of IFP supporters who yesterday [Thursday] attempted to hinder President Mbeki’s motorcade proceeding at Tugela Ferry [in KwaZulu-Natal].”
The IFP and ANC have been long-time rivals for the support of the black majority in the province — but until now the IFP has consistently beaten the ANC at the polls, albeit by a small margin. The Tugela Ferry area is a historical point of contestation between the two parties, although it is regarded as an IFP stronghold.
The president’s motorcade was hindered on its way to the presidential imbizo in the province on Thursday.
Calling for appropriate respect to be shown to all democratic leaders of the nation, Zondi said: ”Such actions have no place in a democracy and in a civilised society. The IFP totally condemns them.
”We exhort everyone to show appropriate respect to President Mbeki, who yesterday was visiting the province as head of state.
”Nevertheless, one fears that this spontaneous reaction — however wrong and unacceptable — is indicative of the extent of the tensions that exist between supporters of the IFP and ANC.
”This places a burden of responsibility upon the two parties to work together to ensure that the forthcoming election is contested without a return to violence.”
The province was wracked with violence in the run-up to the first non-racial national election in South Africa in 1994, and was a battleground between the IFP, which then ruled the KwaZulu self-governing territory, and the ANC’s front organisation, the United Democratic Front, in the 1980s.
Zondi said: ”We also call upon all IFP supporters not to do anything that would bring the fair name of the party and our president [national Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi] into disrepute.”
Mbeki is scheduled to declare the election date on February 11 but his party has already launched its election manifesto — in KwaZulu-Natal — for the national and provincial election expected in March or April. — I-Net Bridge