FUNOKWAKHE CEDRIC XULU
"If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots", Napoleon Bonaparte.
I was reminded of these words when I saw Julius Malema, the President of the Economic Freedom Fighters, and later Bheki Mtolo, the KwaZulu Natal Provincial Secretary of the African National Congress, calling the IFP apartheid collaborators and political stooges.
These attacks on the character and integrity of the IFP, by both the ANC and EFF, requires that we pose the following questions: Is it just a coincidence or are these attacks well orchestrated and have to do with a possibility that the IFP might win KwaZulu-Natal Province in the 2024 National General Elections?
It is important to remind both Malema and Mtolo that the political violence of the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s is not something that any citizen of this province wishes to see happening again. Both academic literature and newspaper articles are replete with a painful account of the sad state of affairs where more than 26,000 people lost their lives. An account by Anthea Jeffery in the book "People's War" suggests that the genesis of political violence in South Africa was a result of similar utterances that have suddenly resurfaced from Bheki Mtolo and Julius Malema.
The character assassination and the vilification of the IFP and its leader Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi during the 1970s, 80s and early 1990s by the ANC mission in exile was never a solution as a weapon of choice. Sadly, it proved to be a waste of time and a myopic strategy that resulted in unnecessary political tensions and loss of lives. At the end, both the ANC and IFP, through peace talks and the signing of peace accords, came to an understanding that:
“There is no winner at war, the victor prides himself for losing less than the vanquished,” Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister (1939-40)s
The political gains in the recent local government election, especially in KwaZulu Natal, has put the IFP in the best possible position to take over this province in the 2024 National General Elections. It was to be expected that the ANC would not relax and let the IFP take the province on a silver platter.
In my personal opinion, the ANC has decided to employ three-pronged strategies in order to ensure that the IFP does not succeed in taking over the province.
1. The utilisation of the proximity of the ANC PEC and its Secretary General Fikile Mbalula to Julius Malema. This has seen a collapse of the coalition between Malema’s party, the EFF, and the IFP in all hung municipalities. The reason for the collapse of the coalition is the service delivery records of the IFP which is seen as a threat that should it continue undisturbed, the KZN citizens would be reminded of the good old days of the erstwhile KwaZulu-Natal government’s service delivery records.
2. The vilification of the IFP and its leadership through social media by stirring old tensions. Old utterances, where the IFP was called an apartheid collaborator and political stooges of the Nationalist Party has recently resurfaced. The ANC and Julius Malema know that such utterances would stir old tensions and will indeed lead to political instability in the province. Where there is political instability, service delivery is compromised. A political party running the majority of municipalities in the midst of political instability will be taken as a failure.
3. The creation of ructions between IFP leaders through utilising Ngizwe Mchunu's platform (Ngizwe on Line) where continuous vilification of the IFP leader, His Excellency Velenkosini Hlabisa, is driven and an attempt at comparing him with other leaders within the party is used as a divisive strategy. Social media is abuzz with this comparison. The suggestion is that the NEC addresses this issue frankly and arrests it before the enemy manages to come in between the leaders.
Dr Funokwakhe Cedric Xulu is a member of the IFP in good standing. He writes in his personal capacity.
Daily News