Squabbling and internal clashes within the IFP on who should lead the party in the National Assembly, replacing the late party founder and its president emeritus, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, have delayed the filling of the important vacancy.
Sunday World understands through internal sources that a strong cabal within the party is pushing for party president Velenkosini Hlabisa to be deployed to parliament as the party’s caucus leader, a move that his sympathisers oppose.
“It’s a very difficult position that the party is facing. We were not prepared for uMntwana (Buthelezi) to leave us before the elections. We were crossing our fingers and wanted him to take us to 2024, but it wasn’t to be. We are now facing a dilemma because those supporting Bulawayo (Hlabisa) do not want him to be deployed to parliament. Instead, they want him to stay in the province,” said the party senior leader, not authorised to speak to the media.
Hlabisa is the leader of the official opposition in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provincial legislature.
Another party leader told Sunday World that those supporting Hlabisa believed the move to deploy him in parliament was a strategic blunder, which had the potential to boomerang.
“We are opposed to this because it seeks to render Hlabisa irrelevant and ensure that he is not considered a potential premier candidate for KwaZulu-Natal. We know that our focus is the province, where we stand to gain,” he said.
Sunday World understands that stiff competition between Hlabisa and party provincial chairman Thamsanqa Ntuli has delayed the party from announcing its premiership candidate for KZN.
Asked whether the party will soon make the announcement on its KZN premier candidate, including who will lead it in the national assembly, IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa was brief, saying the party will not be rushed.
“The party has not discussed or decided on that. There’s no rush either,” he said.
It has also emerged that to eliminate divisions leading up to next year’s polls, the party is likely to lean on the party’s long-serving senior member, Musa Zondi, or the IFP’s deputy president, Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi, known as Inkosi yaseMbongombongweni within the IFP circles, as a possible replacement for the deceased politician.
Zondi was called out of retirement and co-opted into the national council, the highest decision-making body of the party.
He served as party secretary under the late Buthelezi.
While nationally the IFP has failed to make serious electoral gains, KZN remains the province in which the party’s eyes are focused on doing well in the 2024 general elections.
The party is also buoyed by its recent electoral gains during the 2021 municipal elections, where it snatched several councils from the governing ANC.
The party has also been on an upward trajectory, winning several by-elections in KZN, including dominating in previous ANC strongholds.
In the event that no one wins the province, it is a merger between the DA and IFP, and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and ANC that will decide who will call the shots in KZN.
While the DA has made it known that it will not work with the red berets, the IFP on the other hand told this paper recently that it remains open to negotiating with the EFF.
