Challenged: IFP leader Velenkosini Hlabisa
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is set to convene its elective conference next month, where party leader Velenkosini Hlabisa will face a challenge for the top position from KwaZulu-Natal premier Thami Ntuli.
Hlabisa, who recently joined President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet as the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, will square off against Ntuli, who leads a four-party coalition in his province.
The IFP, whose support increased from 14% to 17% in the May general elections, secured its role in the government of national unity through post-election negotiations, also positioning the party as a key player in provincial governance.
Its extended national council endorsed the party’s participation in both the national unity government and the provincial unity arrangements in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, while stressing the importance of maintaining the IFP’s identity and advancing its policies in these coalitions.
A meeting earlier this month mandated the IFP’s national executive committee and national council to finalise a roadmap for the party’s conference by the end of August. The main elective conference, as well as the branch ones preceding it, were scheduled to be held earlier this year, but were delayed, partly due to the elections.
In the meeting, Hlabisa acknowledged that the elections had taken priority for the party, leading to a temporary suspension of branch inaugurations and other internal activities.
“The recent general elections played a role in delaying the conference as the party was occupied with the election campaign, emphasising that adequate groundwork, including structural readiness and constitutional compliance, is necessary before convening the conference,” Hlabisa said.
Delays in convening the conferences have also been attributed to factional disputes.
The national executive committee will meet on Monday, and will receive updates on the conference planning process which will inform the way forward, party spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa told the Mail & Guardian.
The IFP plans to conduct a review of service delivery targets in all municipalities under its control by November, Hlengwa said.
“The IFP’s national council instructed the NEC to finalise the party’s roadmap for the upcoming conferences by the end of August. Key resolutions included endorsing an audit of all inaugurated branches, with branch-level activities recognised as critical to the party’s mobilisation efforts,” he said.
The elective conference will be significant for the IFP as it will be the first without its founder and former leader Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who died in September last year. It comes ahead of the party commemorating its 50th anniversary next year
Hlabisa, who took over from Buthelezi in 2019, was viewed as his preferred successor but faces growing resistance from Ntuli’s faction in KwaZulu-Natal.
Ntuli took on the role of premier in the government of provincial unity after no party managed to secure an outright victory in the May elections.
Meanwhile, Hlabisa’s deployment as cooperative governance minister underscores the IFP’s strategic positioning within national governance.
Since the 2011 formation of the National Freedom Party by IFP defectors, the latter has sought to rebuild its influence in KwaZulu-Natal, achieving significant victories in recent by-elections across the province.