The Inkatha Freedom Party’s support base is ”eroding” in urban areas but still strong in rural KwaZulu-Natal where people believe it represents the interests of the Zulu people, according to a political analyst.
Reuben Mhlongo, who is based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said on Thursday: ”There are two factions in the party, one loyal to the leadership of Mangosuthu Buthelezi and another pressing for democratisation.”
He said suspended national chairperson Ziba Jiyane had expressed the popular opinion of the second, more urbanised group by saying the IFP lacked internal democracy and was run in a dictatorial fashion.
The IFP said Jiyane had last week brought its name into disrepute by saying it was operating as ”an internal dictatorship”, thereby fuelling widespread perceptions of discord and divisions within the party.
Jiyane was suspended by the party’s national council on Sunday after he made the remarks at an ”unauthorised rally”.
On Thursday, IFP secretary general Musa Zondi said: ”Ziba Jiyane never drew up proposals for reform. He is lying; the conflict is in his mind.”
Following his suspension, Jiyane said he no longer believes there is a political future for him in the IFP and is considering his options, which include starting his own party or joining another.
”You can’t say these things and think you can still come back to the party,” said Zondi.
He said if Jiyane leaves and his supporters follow him, it is ”no problem” because ”they are better off in an environment where they are comfortable rather than to stay and confuse us in the IFP”.
However, he pointed out: ”There are issues in the IFP, but there is no company without problems, no family without problems or human being without problems, but not to the extent that he [Jiyane] is talking about.”
He said the Jiyane matter is a ”storm in a teacup” and refused to say how it will affect the party’s annual general conference in September or its local government election campaign.
According to Mhlongo, it is not a party problem in the IFP but a leadership problem.
He said the IFP will survive but it has to make changes or else it will be ”just a matter of time”.
Mhlongo believes there is a ”new emerging leftist group that wants the organisation to be transformed”.
There is no sign that the party has started grooming a new leader, he said, but this should start immediately.
Mhlongo said it is important to consider what direction the new leader will take — whether the party will represent the values of the nation or just ethnic or tribal interests.
”Mangosuthu Buthelezi must resign; now is the time before it’s too late. He should be giving guidance and applying his expertise. But the new leader must not be a Buthelezi puppet,” Mhlongo said.
He believes the upcoming local government elections will provide a clear picture on the party’s future and the extent of its support base. — Sapa