Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Dr Mangosuthu Buthelezi on Sunday reiterated his claims that the general elections would not be free and fair.
Addressing the IFP’s final rally at Prince Mangosuthu Stadium in Nseleni in northern KwaZulu-Natal, Buthelezi said his complaints to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) about irregularities during previous elections had been ignored.
”Documents detailing irregularities and corruption during elections were sent to IEC chairperson Dr Brigalia Bam [who] has not responded. She promised to respond but she has not.”
The IFP had been a victim of electoral fraud since 1994, said Buthelezi in the presence of international election observers.
The IFP said its final rally in Nseleni showed the party still commanded huge support and was ready to take control of the province from the ANC. More than 10 000 people attended the rally, the party said.
Highlighting the important of winning elections, Buthelezi said the elections would be a two-horse race between the IFP and ANC in the province.
”All the indications are that this will be a very close election throughout this country. Really there are only two possible winners in this province, the IFP and the ANC.”
Buthelezi said he was proud that Zanele Magwaza-Msibi was the party’s premier candidate in KwaZulu-Natal, saying that her service delivery record was well known in Zululand where she was mayor.
He said the African National Congress-led government had failed to deliver in the province.
”The official unemployment rate is over 30%, there is a backlog of more than 300 000 homes, over 6 000 civil servants are under investigation for housing fraud and the classroom backlog is nearly 10 000.”
Speaking ahead of the rally, IFP secretary in KwaZulu-Natal, Bonginkosi Buthelezi, said the rally would act as reminder that the IFP still had ”massive support” in KwaZulu-Natal.
”Recent statistics say that the IFP will perform badly during the elections. They say that we will not even be an official opposition. We are not worried about them [statistics] because we know that they are not correct.
”This rally is important because it will remind them that we are still strong,” he said.
Buthelezi said it was not true that the IFP support had dwindled to such an extent that the Democratic Alliance would receive more votes than the IFP and become the official opposition in KwaZulu-Natal.
In the 2004 general elections, the IFP won 30 seats in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature and lost three during the 2005 floor-crossing window period. The DA won seven seats in the 2004 elections in KwaZulu-Natal. The IFP lost control of the province to the ANC in 2004. This was after the party had won the province consecutively since the democratic dispensation in 1994. – Sapa