Velenkosini Hlabisa: From school teacher to IFP president

Newly elected Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) president Velenkosini Hlabisa believes the party is steadily growing beyond the borders of its home province, KwaZulu-Natal.

Born in the rolling hills of KwaZulu-Natal in the town of Hlabisa, the IFP has been his political home since the age of 13, when he joined the IFP Youth Brigade, in 1978.

After matriculating in 1983, Hlabisa studied at the University of South Africa and at the University of Zululand.

Hlabisa did a five-year teaching stint at Ngebeza High School before being promoted to principal of Somfula High School.

It was during this time he was elected as a municipal councillor for the Hlabisa municipality, in 1995, before making his way up the ladder to become IFP secretary-general in 2011.

Recently he was elected to take over the reins from longtime IFP leader Mangosutho Buthelezi.

The IFP’s core support is a Zulu-speaking constituency and the party is perceived to be a regional organisation with a strong support base in its home province.

However, Hlabisa said an indication that the IFP is growing its support base beyond KwaZulu-Natal is the fact that it has garnered votes throughout the country’s nine provinces during the 2019 general elections.

“That is a clear, first indication that it is not a regionally based party. You will find it across the nine provinces,” Hlabisa said.

The IFP won the opposition race in KZN during this year’s elections with 16.63% of the vote against the DA’s 13.65%.

Hlabisa told The Citizen that when the new leadership of the party was elected at its recent conference, one of its “top priorities” was to expand the footprint of the IFP.

He added that after the 2021 local government elections, the IFP wants to be represented “in many municipalities with councillors from the IFP throughout South Africa”.

“We want to see the IFP controlling other municipalities outside KwaZulu-Natal,” Hlabisa said.

The party wants more of its councillors being members of mayoral committees in metros and municipalities, “influencing decisions outside of KwaZulu-Natal”, Hlabisa said.

“It is our programme to expand our footprint,” the new IFP leader said.

He added that “many women” were elected to the IFP’s national council, an indication that women occupy “special” positions within the party.

“If you look in parliament, we have three women, two of them are below 35, which is also an indication that we believe in women and we also believe in young women,” he said.

He said as the IFP moved forward, the ideal was “we reach a stage of 50/50”, and “even more” than that.

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