The IFP’s extended national council scheduled for today is expected to be a show of force between two party factions differing over the use of party president Velenkosini Hlabisa as the face of the 2024 elections.
The sitting is expected to adopt the 2024 election timeline and hold deliberations on the draft policy submitted by various branches ahead of the policy conference in December.
Sunday World understands this will also be a rallying point during the party’s upcoming policy conference scheduled for December 12-13.
It will be the first major gathering of the party held without the late party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who died last month at the age of 95.
A faction linked to IFP provincial chairperson Thamsanqa Ntuli is pushing for the organisation to only use Buthelezi as the face of the 2024 general elections.
This while a camp aligned with Hlabisa wants both of them to be used as the party’s election mugs.
Ntuli’s clique, which is known as “abusekho ubunzima” loosley translated to mean “no more suffering”, strongly oppose the use of Hlabisa as the face of the elections, saying it defies logic because Buthelezi’s face, which would be emblazoned on the party’s t-shirt, placards and posters, would help them garner votes and stay relevant.
Despite a strong pushback from Hlabisa’s detractors, his sympathisers are lobbying intensely to have him as the face of the organisation. His loyalists, who spoke to this paper, pointed out that it’s “absolute bunkum” for the party to insist on using Buthelezi as the only face of the party.
During the 2019 IFP’s elective conference, the party passed a special resolution barring members from wearing any regalia bearing the face of its president.
“It is the silent war that we have been waging inside since the election of Ngotsha (Hlabisa’s clan name) way back in 2019. We propose that in order for the IFP to remain relevant among the voters, both him and uMntwana (Buthelezi) should be used as the face of the party,” said one senior leader aligned to Hlabisa.
Another party leader said the decision was ill-informed and geared towards frustrating Hlabisa’s leadership.
“The resolution was fuelled by anger directed at Bulawayo (Hlabisa). There was a view among some that he was not the conference choice; instead, he was anointed by uShenge ( Buthelezi) to succeed him. We will, however, be challenging this at our next policy conference.
“We want an amendment to the resolution so that both Bulawayo and uShenge can be used as the face of the election campaign,” said the senior leader aligned to the faction called Konke Kuhamba Kahle, meaning “why change because everything is going well”.
In May, party secretary Siphosethu Ngcobo issued a directive to party constituencies in various districts to avail the names of all members who insisted on wearing the party regalia bearing the face of Hlabisa in defiance of the 2019 resolution. Ngcobo explained that the members would be disciplined for defying the party.
National spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa dispelled the notion that there were crippling factions within the party, saying this was concocted lies to derail the party.
On the other hand, Ngcobo told Sunday World various proposals on who should be the face of the elections campaign had been canvassed. Ngcobo also said the party might decide to use a logo.
Other contests expected to feature high on the agenda involve who will be deployed to the national and provincial parliaments.
