ON THE LAUNCH OF THE NEW PARTY BY THE HON MRS KAMAGWAZA-MSIBI MPL

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The announcement by IFP National Chairperson, Mrs Zanele Magwaza-Msibi, that she has abandoned the IFP to form a new party is a political matter which goes beyond my personal sadness, sense of betrayal and disappointment.

This political matter has different facets. First and foremost it highlights once more how South African politics is moving away from values and ideas, and from the methodology which inspired leaders such as Inkosi Albert Luthuli, Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela and myself, to a methodology based on power grabs for power's sake, centered around personality cults and political prima donnae. The spilt in the IFP is not about policies and values, but about personal ambition.

Another facet of this political phenomenon is the ruling Party attracting within its fold all other components of black society, which spells the demise of the democracy we fought for for so many generations.

The IFP has been tried and tested over many decades of struggle against apartheid and confrontations with the ANC. We cannot be bought. We cannot be bent. We cannot be swayed. We are preparing ourselves to exercise an even more effective role, dare I say as true radicals in the protection and promotion of democracy.

It is no surprise that this type of transformation of the IFP and the effectiveness of the role we intend to play is undermined by what appears to be a well-orchestrated plot. The new party was registered months ago and there are plenty of indications that it received financial support from the very political forces which the IFP's democratic vigilance intends to hold accountable and keep under check and balance.

Issued by the Inkatha Freedom Party, January 25 2011

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