IFP: 2024 Elections are best opportunity to punish failed ANC government

18 July 2023

The IFP, as the Official Opposition in the KZN Legislature, says shack dwellers in KZN must take advantage of the upcoming 2024 General Election to punish the ANC, which has neglected and failed them.

The shack fire that destroyed hundreds of shacks in Kennedy Road, Durban, last week, is a clear indication that the ANC has failed our people. This comes on the back of devastating fires in the Dakota and Bottlebrush informal settlements in recent months. How much more must our people endure?

Thousands of people have been staying in shacks for years, without any hope of being provided with decent houses. During winter, shacks are like freezers, and during summer, the makeshift tin houses are like incinerators. Yet, come election time, they are lied to and used as election fodder for ANC politicians, who only seem to care about votes and to properly feather their nest and plume the bird, at the expense of the poor.

The ANC has rejected and stripped our people of their dignity. The ANC has betrayed them. It is incomprehensible that almost 30 years into democracy there are still people without houses. When the ANC came into power, it promised people a better life for all. Does ‘better life’ mean you live in a shack for your entire life? We would not be surprised if the ANC KZN provincial government swiftly dumped Kennedy Road shack dwellers in community halls, where they will stay for years - like the April 2022 flood victims.

The IFP believes that shack dwellers must make use of the 2024 Elections to punish the failed ANC government.

The ballot box is the best tool at the people’s disposal to express their pain and frustration. If they don't punish the ANC, they will continue to suffer for many years to come. If the people want change, they must change the way they vote. Our founding father, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, built the IFP on basic human rights. Proper housing is a basic human right, which cannot be ignored by the government of the day.

The ANC government must be replaced, as a matter of urgency, with a new generation of leaders. The people must use their powerful franchise to elect their own leaders to better represent their ideals, their hopes, and their aspirations.

Further, the IFP calls upon the KZN MEC for Human Settlements, Sipho Nkosi, to tell the public when the Kennedy Road shack dwellers will be provided with decent houses. We will continue to monitor this situation closely.

Issued by S Bhanprakash, IFP KZN Provincial Spokesperson for Human Settlements, 18 July 2023