Challenger: IFP leader Berenkosini Hlabisa
TThe Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is due to hold its conference next month with party leader Belenkosini Hlabisa set to challenge KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli for the leadership position.
Hlabisa, who recently joined President Cyril Ramaphosa's cabinet as minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, will face off against Ntuli, who leads a four-party coalition in the province.
The IFP, whose support rate rose from 14 to 17 percent in May's general election, secured a role in the national unity government through post-election negotiations and positioned the party as a major player in provincial governance.
The Extended National Council endorsed the party's participation in both the Government of National Unity and the Provincial Unity Compacts in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, stressing the importance of maintaining the IFP's identity and promoting its policies in these coalition governments.
At a meeting earlier this month, the IFP's national executive committee and national council were tasked with finalizing a roadmap for the party's congress by the end of August. The main electoral congress and the branch conference that precedes it were scheduled to take place earlier this year but were postponed in light of the elections.
At the meeting, Hlabisa acknowledged that elections had become the party's top priority and that branch inauguration ceremonies and other internal party activities had been temporarily suspended.
“The recent general elections have led to the postponement of the conference as the party has been busy with election campaigning. We stress that adequate preparations, including organisational arrangements and constitutional compliance, must be made before the conference can be held,” Hlabisa said.
The delay in holding the meeting is also said to be due to factional disputes.
The national executive committee is due to meet on Monday to receive an update on the conference planning process that will chart the way forward, party spokesman Mkuleko Hlengwa said. Mail & Guardian.
Hlenga said the IFP will carry out a review of service delivery targets in all municipalities under its jurisdiction by November.
“The IFP's National Council has instructed the NEC to finalise the party's roadmap for the upcoming party conference by the end of August. Key resolutions included approving an audit of all branches launched, recognising that branch level activities are crucial to the party's mobilisation efforts,” he said.
The elective conference is significant for the IFP as it will be its first without its founder and former leader, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who died last September, and comes ahead of the party's 50th anniversary next year.
Hlabisa, who succeeded Buthelezi in 2019, was seen as the likely successor to him but has faced growing resistance from the Ntuli faction in KwaZulu-Natal.
Ntuli became chief executive of the provincial unity government after no party won an outright victory in May's elections.
Meanwhile, Hlabisa's appointment as Minister of Cooperative Governance underlines the IFP's strategic position in national governance.
Since IFP defectors formed the National Liberal Party in 2011, the party has sought to re-establish its influence in KwaZulu-Natal, scoring significant victories in recent by-elections across the province.
