While it was “sad and disappointing” that several member defected to the ANC, it was not the end of the world, the IFP said.
|||Durban - While it was “sad and disappointing” that several senior colleagues had defected to the ANC, it was not the end of the world, IFP deputy national chairman, Albert Mncwango, said on Sunday, after it emerged that high profile councillors and more than 700 ordinary IFP members in Nongoma had joined the ANC.
National Freedom Party (NFP) leader, Zanele Magwaza-Msibi, on Sunday night denied that any of her members had defected to the ANC.
However, announcing the defections in a statement on Sunday, ANC provincial chairman, Senzo Mchunu, described the gain of hundreds of IFP and NFP members as “a huge achievement” for the ANC.
ANC spokesman, Senzo Mkhize, said the defections were a clear sign that the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal was “gaining dominant presence in every corner of the province” and that “indeed Nongoma will never be the same again as the ANC expects more people to follow suit in the next few weeks”.
Among the Nongoma defectors were IFP Ward 10 councillor and constituency chairman, Thami Nyembe, IFP ward 11 councillor and constituency secretary, Nhlanhla Mthembu, IFP Ward 5 councillor and additional member in the Nongoma constituency, Sithembiso Gumbi, and IFP Youth Brigade chairman in the Nongoma constituency, Sithembiso Mdiniso.
Muzi Ndwandwe, former NFP candidate for ward 11 in Nongoma Municipality, was among the NFP members who defected.
“The Nongoma area has long been seen as the last outpost of the IFP and out of reach for the ANC, but this perception is changing rapidly. The ANC is winning the hearts of the local people and is now on course to emerge as the dominant force in the area at the next election,” ANC spokesman Sihle Zikalala said.
“Not even the formation of the National Freedom Party (NFP) prior to the 2011 local government elections has made a dent on the ANC’s fortunes, which continue to grow on the strength of the ruling party’s strong record of service delivery.”
Zikalala said the ANC was impressed with levels of political maturity in Nongoma.
“We remember vividly that when the ANC campaigned in Nongoma during past elections, our members were attacked by people who felt threatened by our presence. This situation has now changed,’” Zikalala said.
He added the change of the political landscape would make it easier for the ANC to work with local communities.
“The days when the IFP and later the NFP deliberately hindered the development in areas like Nongoma are over,” Zikalala said.
However, Mncwango, who said he was speaking from the opening of a new branch in Nongoma on Sunday where he was busy “inviting hordes of people back from the ANC and NFP”, said the party would survive and thrive through the defections, as it had done in the past when figures such as Zanele Magwaza-Msibi had left to start her own party.
“It is obviously sad that people you have been working with for a long time suddenly decide to leave.
“But this is not the end of the world because it is not the first time the IFP has suffered defections like this. Even at a high level people have left because they thought they were going to make a political world of honey and milk, but it turned out to be a misery and most of them came back,” Mncwango said.
“I am disappointed that these former comrades of mine have decided to take this kind of decision but I am not surprised at all. The struggle is going to continue. As some people have decided to leave, there are others who have decided to come back.”.
He said the IFP’s doors and arms would always be open to the defectors if they wanted to come back to the party.
“I know they took the decision under extreme emotion and I know that they will always remain IFP at heart. I cannot imagine any one of them actually joining the ANC because they don’t even believe in the ANC policy.
“Some of them have suffered terribly under the ANC and lost relatives and loved ones and it can’t be that the ANC has suddenly changed its colours,” Mncwango said.
Magwaza-Msibi said she was unaware of any members who had defected and said she did not know Ndwandwe.
However, ANC spokesman, Senzo Mkhize, said last night the ANC stood by its statement.
He said Ndwandwe had been a ward candidate for the NFP in 2011 and that “many” NFP members had defected to the ANC.
He added, however, that the party was unable to quantify how many of the defectors were former NFP members.
Daily News
