IFP president Mangosuthu Buthelezi on Saturday rebuked dissenters within his party and called for unity ahead of the local government elections next year.
“Those renegades who are pursuing a rift in the IFP are hurting our party and hurting the people who voted for us,” Buthelezi told a crowd during a rally in Qhudeni in the Nkandla municipal district.
“I stand before you as the IFP’s president to set the record straight. There is only one IFP. There is only one cause; and that is the full liberation of South Africa’s people from the bondage of poverty, indignity and despair,” he said.
Buthelezi’s comments come after reports of a leadership struggle in the IFP. He is expected to relinquish his 35-year-long presidency of the party soon.
Party members are said to be divided in their support for national chairperson Zanele Magwaza-Msibi and secretary general Musa Zondi as Buthelezi’s replacement.
‘Public spectacle’
Buthelezi urged the importance of the IFP constitution.
“I relate this because recently there have been members of our party who have created a public spectacle, acting in contravention of our constitution,” he said.
IFP KZN acting chairperson Muzi Simelane was suspended from the party for three years after nominating Magwaza-Msibi on behalf of the IFP Youth Brigade (IFPYB). The IFPYB distanced itself from the comments, saying the party’s constitution had not been followed in the nomination process.
Magwaza-Msibi also publicly denied her availability for nomination. In January this year she was redeployed from municipal level to the KZN provincial legislature.
Empty promises
Buthelezi also accused the African National Congress (ANC) of making empty election promises which it could not deliver on.
“It is an indictment on them that, some 16 years since they promised houses, there are people in Inkandla — and all over South Africa — who still have no proper home,” he told the crowd.
“For how long will [ANC KZN premier Zweli Mkhize] and his government keep making empty promises in a ploy to win this ward over to the ANC? This is grossly irresponsible behaviour,” he said.
He reaffirmed the IFP’s capability to govern.
“Before democracy, we gained years of experience in governance under even harsher conditions than the ANC government faces today,” he said, referring to his tenure as chief minister in the apartheid-era KwaZulu homeland government.
“We believe in working consistently, day in and day out, hand-in-hand with the people, towards a better future,” he said.
“We know that good governance requires honesty and integrity. We know that not enough has been done for the people of Nkandla, and we are determined to make sure that things change.”
He said the IFP had already inaugurated over 700 branches and planned to inaugurate another 300 before the party’s conference in May as it prepared for the 2011 municipal elections.
Despite winning every station in the Qhudeni Municipality during the 2009 national and provincial elections, the IFP only garnered 47,14% of the votes in the Nkandla district municipality against the ANC’s 50,86%. The ANC also won control of the province with 62,95% of the votes against the IFP’s 22,4%. – Sapa