IFP president and Cogta minister Velenkosini Hlabisa. (Des Erasmus/M&G)
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) will not go to court or walk out of the government of national unity (GNU) over policy disputes, but will deal with issues through the structures set up at cabinet level to process them.
Its president Velenkosini Hlabisa said on Monday that the party would continue to act as a “voice of reason” in the GNU while continuing to maintain its identity and championing key matters.
Addressing a party briefing on its first 100 days in the 10-party coalition government, Hlabisa said the IFP welcomed the creation of a clearing house that could assist in breaking the deadlock over the National Health Insurance (NHI) and the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act.
Hlabisa serves as cooperative governance and traditional affairs minister in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet as part of the deal giving the IFP two ministerial and two deputy minister positions. The IFP leads the government of provincial unity in KwaZulu-Natal, where the ANC has been given three cabinet seats in return.
“An opportunity must be created within the GNU to open a dialogue on the policy
proposals where we fundamentally differ and to find a common ground and solutions,” Hlabisa said. ”We therefore welcome the establishment of a GNU clearing house which will deal with policy disagreements.”
Hlabisa said that although the IFP believed in universal health coverage, the “current prevailing circumstances within our dilapidated health care system will not allow for the successful roll out of this system.
“The basics are just not in place to ensure a sustainable implementation of the NHI.”
He said there had to be “consistent engagement” between the GNU partners if it were to be successful, rather than simply responding to crises, and that the clearing house would play this role by looking at policy issues.
‘We will not run to court. We are part of this government. The clearing house is going to engage on the issue of differences. On those issues, we will need to find common ground and take our country forward.”
Hlabisa said Ramaphosa had done “something amazing” by consulting him and other leaders ahead of the signing of the Bela Act and informing them of his intention to suspend the implementation of the continuous clauses while opening up dialogue around them.
“This is the spirit that will make the GNU work, where you engage your partners, get them along to be part of the process,” he said.
The GNU would have to “engage” on policy differences regarding Taiwan, whose embassy in Pretoria is about to downgrade to a trade mission and the clearing house would have to deal with the matter.
Hlabisa said the IFP felt “at home” in the GNU because the party had gone into the elections knowing that there would be no clear winner and that a coalition of one form or another would be inevitable.
The party had “prepared itself to become part of a coalition government” and “did the groundwork” ahead of the elections, travelling abroad to study best practices in countries where coalitions had successfully governed.
“We knew that post 2024 would be a coalition government. We were clear. We are at home in the GNU because we were not caught by surprise.”
“We know that for a coalition government or a government of national unity to succeed there must be mutual respect among the partners. That is what we are experiencing as political parties at cabinet and at extended cabinet level. That spirit is embraced and there is respect, an understanding that we serve the people of South Africa,” Hlabisa said.
Although there had been an expectation that the GNU would automatically replicate itself at local government level, this was not the case, because the 29 May election had dealt only with national and provincial governments.
“The IFP will be approaching the local government elections to win. Where it might not have a clear majority, it will engage like minded parties to take local government forward,” he said.
The fact that parties coalesced differently at various levels of government was “not a threat” but was an example of “democracy at its best”.
Hlabisa said he believed the provincial and national governments were “starting to do what is needed” and that “all indicators point to this being the turning point for South Africa”.
Hlabisa tore into the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) over claims by its leader, Julius Malema, that the IFP campaign had been funded by the Oppenheimer family.
Hlabisa said the party was proud of its decades-long relationship with the family, which had resulted in the formation of the Mangosuthu University of Technology and would remain a “voice of reason”.
“We are patriots building for the future, not voices of destruction that seek to tear apart the very fabric of our society,” Hlabisa said.
“The IFP has built schools, hospitals, universities, clinics and has vast governance experience, while the voices of destruction have stolen from the poor through the VBS looting scandal. In their 10 years of existence their contribution has amounted to nothing more than race-baiting, insults, and flip-flopping on crucial matters of national importance.
“We remain undeterred by an organisation that is increasingly desperate, despondent and knows the upcoming 2026 local elections might signal their death-knell,” Hlabisa said.
The IFP has begun auditing its branches ahead of a programme of elective conferences from branch level upwards, which will culminate in a national conference during the course of next year.
Hlabisa said the party had placed the process on hold to campaign for the 29 May elections and to allow for time for the provincial and national unity governments to stabilise and would now push ahead with the road to conference.
The party wanted this process to be over and done with at least 12 months ahead of the local government elections.