Mourners in traditional attire sit near the coffin of the late Mangosuthu Buthelezi at his official state funeral in Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal, on Saturday. Photo: GCIS
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is facing a big test: Unite or risk dying with its founder, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, if it continues with its internal squabbles, says an expert.
Political analyst Lukhona Mnguni says the biggest threat to the IFP is going to be whether the political party and its leadership can unite around a common agenda in the absence of Buthelezi. If they pass that test, then the question of how they use Buthelezi’s legacy arises because – if they are divided into factions with the accompanying infighting – they won’t be able to communicate their vision.
Mnguni said some IFP members had begun to challenge the leadership of its new president, Velenkosini Hlabisa, on the eve of Buthelezi’s passing. Buthelezi was buried in Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal, on Saturday in a special state funeral addressed by high-level speakers including President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Each of them praised Buthelezi, saying he had dedicated his life to developing the Zulu nation. But the picture painted of him at the funeral contradicted Buthelezi’s political life as a leader of a killer organisation that worked with notorious apartheid state security force killers to commit mass killings in Gauteng’s townships and rural KwaZulu-Natal in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
Buthelezi, who changed to become a man who pursued peace in the country and reconciliation with the ANC, was at the helm throughout the IFP’s reign of terror. He initially rejected the 1994 democratic constitutional settlement and joined at the eleventh hour after ballot papers were printed, forcing the Independent Electoral Commission to use a special sticker on the ballot paper to accommodate the IFP.
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Mnguni said he had always believed that the IFP would be better off in next year’s election with Buthelezi still alive because his stature would enable the party to navigate possible “divisive moments”.
He was able to keep a semblance of unity in the IFP because people feared he could still berate them when they strayed. “We saw that immediately when he became frail and hospitalised, some of the underbelly divisions reared their heads in the party.
Some members of the national council petitioned the secretary-general to call a special national council meeting with no clear agenda, but its genesis appeared to challenge the leadership of Hlabisa,” Mnguni said.
“Buthelezi’s passing presents the IFP with tough questions on its brand positioning. While I think there will be those who want to use the 2024 election in honour of Prince Buthelezi, the IFP also has a unique opportunity to reposition its brand as not being Buthelezi-centric.”
Recently, members even clashed over T-shirts depicting the faces of Hlabisa and Buthelezi because there was a feeling only the latter should feature on party regalia, including election posters. This showed that some still believed Buthelezi was the IFP leader despite his retirement and had not yet recognised Hlabisa as their leader.
Mnguni said if the IFP could agree on giving the organisation a new face, it might have an opportunity to appeal to other segments of society who might see an IFP that had broken with the past. “So that ability to break with the past, rebrand and reposition the brand will be important.”
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