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| IFP's Albert Mncwango. (www.uj.ac.za) |
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)'s deputy national chairperson, Albert Mncwango, says they are going to surprise a lot of people in the upcoming elections.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with SABC
Digital News, he says they are hopeful that after May 7 the IFP will gain more support in KwaZulu-Natal.
Mncwango adds: "I was in Nongoma and I welcomed 200 former members of the IFP who defected to the NFP before, who are coming back. I am hopeful that after the elections, a totally different picture will emerge."
Click here to listen to the full interview with IFP's deputy national chairperson, Albert Mncwango.
He says the party suffered a setback after former IFP chairperson Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi formed her new party, the National Freedom Party (NFP), which was officially launched on February 12, 2011.
The formation of the party came as no surprise as kaMagwaza-Msibi had several run-ins with the IFP leadership over a viable succession plan within the ailing KZN-based party.
The party contested its first election on May 18 when it participated in the 2011 Local Government Elections (LGE). In the election, the party managed to win 2.4% of the vote, two councils and 224 council seats. In KZN, the party entered into formal coalitions with the African National Congress (ANC) in 19 hung councils.
Mncwango says, "It is true we have been experiencing a downward trend during the past three or four elections, but we now understand what has been happening."
He also points out that the issue of adequate resources such as funding has been a problem to the party.
Political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi, meanwhile, says the race between the IFP and NFP will be interesting in the upcoming elections.
He says, "My assessment though is that the NFP won’t gain sufficiently to undermine the IFP as the number two political party in KZN. But if the NFP emerges as the second largest party in KZN that would spell disaster for the IFP with regard to future elections."
He says what was the IFP’s support in 1994 or even in 1999 is now spread in three ways, those voters are found in the ANC then the IFP and then the NFP.
Click here to listen to Political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi.
The 2004 election saw the IFP lose its 30 years of dominance in KwaZulu-Natal to the ANC. The graph below shows how the IFP has been performing in the previous elections both nationally and in KZN.
IFP draws its support largely from Zulu-speaking South Africans. Its strongholds are the rural areas of KZN and the migrant workers’ hostels in the metropolitan areas of Gauteng.
Mangosuthu Buthelezi has led the IFP since he founded it as the Inkatha National Cultural Liberation Movement in 1975. His political career dates back to the 1940s, when he joined the ANC Youth League while studying at Fort Hare University.
Inkatha was transformed into a political party in July 1990, championing federalism as the best political option for South Africa. The IFP believes in integrating traditional leadership into the system of governance by recognising traditional communities as models of societal organisation.
In the past, there have been calls for him to step down, but Buthelezi has maintained that he wouldn’t leave the party while it’s facing problems.
"A lot of damage has been done to the IFP. I need to step aside, like all other people of my age, but I can't leave when the party is facing so much challenges. I would be a coward if I leave now. I have not decided to continue but at the same time I am forced to stay on because of the problems faced by the IFP. I am caught between a rock and a hard place," said Buthelezi in 2012.
Mncwango shares the same sentiments with his leader - he says Buthelezi is still managing a transition. He says the party required Buthelezi to stay on, more than three times when he had wanted to retire.
Click here for more on Mncwango's interview.
This article was first published on SABCNews site.It was done by Sthembiso Sithole.
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