NFP lying to the ANC about support base

2 August 2016

The IFP has taken note of the latest announcement by the leadership of the NFP in KwaZulu Natal that the NFP will throw its weight behind the ANC intomorrow’s local government election. This comes after they announced they would vote DA in Nongoma and eDumbe. Before that, the NFP’s National Spokesman announced that the ANC was lying about NFP/ANC talks and trying to mislead NFP members into voting ANC.

While some consider this latest confusing announcement to be newsworthy, the IFP questions the legitimacy of the NFP’s claim. We do so because we know that the rank and file of the NFP have already re-joined the IFP. We are therefore confident that NFP leadership has no support base to offer the ANC.

There is no love lost between the NFP and ANC. They have insulted one another in the media and on other public platforms. Their coalition failed so horribly that in many municipalities where they have co-governed, they have collapsed these municipalities. Some NFP councillors refused to work with the ANC and worked with the IFP instead. There has been a clear message from NFP supporters that they want nothing to do with the ANC.

The question must therefore be asked: who is the NFP leadership speaking for and who are they representing? Considering the mass exodus from the Party and the number of leadership camps that exist in what is left of the party - it is clear that today’s announcement is a nonsensical election ploy.

This is nothing more than a last ditch attempt by the leadership of the NFP to secure positions post 3 August 2016, as all of them will be unemployed.

We are therefore calling on the leadership of the NFP to come clean and admit that they are lying to the ruling party. The reality of the matter is that the leadership of the NFP cannot deliver any real support to the ANCtomorrow. The current message the leadership of the NFP is communicating to the media and the ruling party is false and must be rejected as false propaganda.

Time and again, as the IFP campaigned throughout KwaZulu Natal and elsewhere we welcomed back members of the NFP in their numbers. The IFP remains ready and willing to accept and welcome back those remaining few members of the NFP who have not yet come back home.

Issued by Albert Mncwango on behalf of IFP, 2 August 2016