In a true IFP takeover, Uyingcwele (You are holy), the hymn made famous by Princess Magogo, the mother of the late IFP founder, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, was played as Thamsanqa Ntuli was inaugurated as the new premier of KwaZulu-Natal.
Among his final desires, Buthelezi, who died in September 2023, wished for his party, which he founded back in 1975, to once again rule the province.
Uyingcwele, the devotional song, has been a common feature in the IFP’s political gatherings and municipalities where it governs.
In IFP circles, the song is accorded a similar status as the national anthem.
Ntuli was at the forefront of honouring the work of Princess Magogo Ngangezinye, the daughter of the long-departed AmaZulu King Solomon KaDinuZulu.
As mayor of the King Cetshwayo district in the north of the province, Ntuli worked to revive Princess Magogo’s musical journey and historical significance, leading the district to create the Princess Magogo Choral Music to carry on her legacy.
The men and women in blue led a grand parade and guard of honour before Tuesday’s glittering ceremony to inaugurate Ntuli, who is the IFP chairperson in KwaZulu-Natal.
Service delivery
He pledged to immediately mobilise his forces to expedite the provision of services and make sure that the pledges made to the electorate prior to the election were fulfilled.
“This day will go down in history as an important day that will demonstrate that the power to determine the future of this province lies in the hands of citizens,” he said.
Ntuli admitted that all political parties had run their campaigns on the platform of running the province on their own with a budget of slightly over R150-billion.
KwaZulu-Natal, which is also the second-biggest economy in the country after Gauteng, is home to two of the busiest ports, the Port of Durban and the Port of Richards Bay, which is Africa’s deepest port.
“The people and the voters are the real bosses. We are their servants, and they call the shots,” said the premier.
He also used the opportunity to call on other political parties to bury the hatchet and work for the citizens of the province.
New political landscape
Thanking the newly formed government of provincial unity, which is made up of the ANC, NFP, DA, and NFP, Ntuli said that it has brought about a new era in the political landscape of the country.
He also promised that he would not alienate the opposition parties, the EFF and the uMkhonto weSizwe Party.
Despite winning 37 out of 80 seats in the provincial legislature under the leadership of former president Jacob Zuma, the coalition ousted the MK Party from power.
Ntuli follows in the footsteps of prominent IFP figures who oversaw the province’s governance, including Dr Frank Mdlalose, Ben Ngubane, and Lionel Mtshali.
The IFP’s dominance came to an end in 2004, when the ANC took over.
