IFP and ANC tensions mount ahead of elections

As tensions between the IFP and ANC escalate amid moves by the two political rivals to consolidate power ahead of next year’s general elections, the ANC has accused its rival of turning municipalities into political playgrounds ahead of the polls.

While the IFP is on a growth trajectory in the province after winning several municipalities in the 2021 municipal elections, the party’s hold on power in some municipalities, particularly in the Zululand District, was being threatened by a recent coalition formed by the ANC and EFF.

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The ANC in the Mzala Nxumalo Region, which includes the Zululand District, has accused IFP Zululand District mayor, Thulasizwe Buthelezi, of preventing IFP councillors from attending crucial council meetings as part of what the ANC regional leaders claim is an attempt by the ANC’s rival to keep “corrupt” practices under wraps.

This was after Wednesday’s scheduled Zululand District Municipality council meeting could not go ahead.

“Today [Wednesday], Inkatha Freedom Party senior leaders instructed its councillors to collapse the council sitting of its corruption-riddled Zululand District Municipality,” ANC Mzala Nxumalo regional secretary, Ntokozo Nxumalo, said.

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ANC councillors, Nxumalo said, were planning to use the cancelled meeting to hold Buthelezi accountable for a number of failures at the councils.

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Buthelezi could not be reached for comment.

The controversy surrounding Wednesday’s cancelled council meeting came a day after the IFP leadership welcomed several new members from the ANC, EFF and ABC to the party.

The people who defected to the IFP included an EFF councillor and the party’s leader in the Zululand District.

IFP provincial chairperson, Thami Ntuli, said members of other political parties who defected to the IFP have realised that the organisation was the only growing political party in KZN.

“We are most excited as this gives us a solid base to build upon in our determination to deliver the people of KwaZulu-Natal from the hands of the ANC in the 2024 general elections.”

In recent weeks, we have been inundated with calls from all corners of the province, from people who want to join the IFP. These are not just ordinary South Africans, but also leaders and councillors from different political parties, including the ANC, EFF and other parties.
Before its recent decision to work with the ANC, the EFF has been supporting the IFP in the province’s hung municipalities such as Nongoma and Mhlathuze in Richards Bay.

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EFF members joining the IFP, Ntuli said, were not happy with the EFF leadership’s decision to work with the ANC.

We have noted that the political miscalculation of the EFF leadership, to betray its voters in this province by deciding to collaborate with the ANC in governance, is now yielding positive results for the IFP. The people of KwaZulu-Natal know that the ANC and the EFF are caught up in a marriage of inconvenience.