IFP leader Velenkosi Hlabisa. (@GovernmentZA/X)
Inkatha Freedom Party leader Velenkosini Hlabisa has accused some party members of impugning his character for his defence of women in the IFP who have been raped or sexual harassment.
At the IFP’s women’s brigade celebration earlier this week, Hlabisa warned men in positions of power in the party against victimising women.
“I want to make this clarion call to our mayors, deputy mayors and speakers who are males; several female employees are victims under your watch. I want [to say] it categorically, we are going to open a war against you,” he said.
“I know that I’m a target of character assassination now, but let it be; whatever you say about me will never stand, whatever you manufacture about me will never stand, but the one thing that I will stand for is to defend women’s abuse by our male leaders.”
In the past, some senior IFP leaders have been accused of rape, sexual harassment and demanding sex as a payment for giving women employment.
Following a leaked audio in August 2023, the party had to suspend former Abaqulusi mayor Mncedisi Maphisa after he allegedly made sexual remarks about female workers in the municipality.
The IFP also suspended a councillor at the Alfred Duma local municipality after a case of rape was opened against him for allegedly using month-to-month contracts to get sex from women desperate to keep their jobs.
In 2021, an IFP councillor from KwaDukuza local municipality was accused of allegedly raping a 14-year-old, impregnating her and later bribing her with a house constructed under the RDP scheme for government-subsidized, affordable housing.
In 2023, a woman wrote a letter to the KwaZulu-Natal department of social development saying: “I find myself in a difficult position where I am forced to sleep with a mayor to keep my work.”
Following these accusations, Hlabisa wrote an open letter reprimanding party members. On Tuesday, the IFP leader said the party would go to war against senior leaders who continued to abuse their positions of power against female staff members.
He said to curb this, the IFP would next year have more women in executive positions such as mayors, deputy mayors and speakers.
“Let me first start by congratulating the women councillors who stood in their wards and won. As you can stand up to represent the IPF at a ward level, we need to ensure that more capacity is provided to you and you are deployed at key political positions so that you lead the societies,” he said.
“As we celebrate 50 years, I want to commit to you that I will run with the baton the late Prince Mangosuthu [Buthelezi] handed over to me to lead the IFP, building a stronger legacy in a new season of struggle for economic and social justice.
“In the conference in 2019, the late prince … said we should protect women and children. Against all odds and the new character assassination thrown at my doorstep, I will soldier on and become the champion of the IFP women’s brigade by deploying them in key positions within the government.”
Hlabisa added that the party would also use its position in the government of national unity to further the agenda of protecting women.
“Laws will be amended so that life imprisonment means exactly that — life in prison — for those convicted of rape, human trafficking, and crimes against children. No more loopholes, no more leniency,” he said.