IFP challenges DA in Western Cape
Inkatha Freedom Party leader Velenkosi Hlabisa says his party will address the growing disparity between the rich and poor in the province
Following statements by Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen that “popcorn” parties should not campaign in the Western Cape, one of the DA’S strongest allies, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), has criticised it for having failed to uplift underprivileged people in the province.
IFP president Velenkosi Hlabisa said his party would contest all nine provinces and be “on the ground until the closing time on the day of the election, urging people to go to the voting station”.
“And when they arrive at the voting station, the message is, vote IFP because the IFP has a track record,” he said in an interview with the Mail & Guardian.
“We have a track record in Kwazulu-natal, where we have governed. We have a track record in the government of national unity.
“The IFP, the departments which were under the control of the IFP for 10 years, from 1994 to 2004, performed par excellence at the national level. And it is time again to fix our country because there is no one political party that is going to get more than 50% and rule alone.”
Hlabisa said majority rule was over in South Africa and that, in a coalition, the IFP would bring experience, integrity and accountability to a new government.
The party was determined to play an active role in the executive in national government as well as in Gauteng and Kwazulu-natal, he said.
It would influence policymaking by giving fresh thinking in addressing the problems in the country.
Steenhuisen has been criticised by commentators after he made remarks against new entrants, such as Rise Mzansi, as well as the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and the Good party, for campaigning in the Western Cape.
Calling them “popcorn” parties, the DA leader said they had identified the Western Cape as the only province which still had money and wanted to get elected to loot public funds.
Hlabisa said that there was a gap in the Western Cape because one of its major problems was a growing disparity between the rich and poor.
“Those who are rich are richer day by day. Those who are poor become poorer every day. The living conditions are not the same.
“If you go to the Western Cape, you find millions of people living in shacks, while only a limited number live comfortably in their beautiful homes.
“The IFP will prioritise the living conditions of the people of Western
Cape in its entirety. The atmosphere, the communities in which they live, let alone the housing, is unacceptable. That would be one focus area.
“The schools in which the majority of children go to in Western Cape are not in a good state, [like their] health services — it could be clinics, hospitals — they are not the same.”
He said an IFP government would ensure that Western Cape residents were all equal and benefited equally from the government.
“Those who have been previously disadvantaged, they are clearly identified.
If you come to Western Cape, they need a government that will bring meaningful change to them. And the IFP is what will be championed to do that,” he said.
“If you look at the Western Cape, there is a reality of poverty which needs a government to tackle and resolve once and for all.
“Whatever way Mr Steenhuisen and the DA classify themselves as good people in terms of governance, I really don’t want to go there. I want to talk to the people of Western Cape who know the reality of daily living as to why they need a government that can uplift their living conditions and the IFP is where it’s going to concentrate,” he said.
Political parties are hoping to chip away the DA’S majority in the province with the aim of unseating it from power.
The party lost some of its coloured and Afrikaner constituency to smaller parties in the 2021 local government elections, with the rise of Good, PA and the Cape Coloured Congress.
The DA’S stance on Israel’s war in Gaza has been criticised by some in the Muslim community — one of its strongest electoral bases — and has put further pressure on its declining voter base.
Election monitoring analyst Wayne Sussman earlier told the M&G that the PA, whose support is mainly from coloured voters in the Western Cape, is the most likely alternative to the DA, adding it has been attracting support in areas such as Cape Town.
“The DA’S biggest concern going into the 2024 elections in the Western Cape is its strength in the coloured communities and within the coloured communities there is obviously Mitchells Plain and Athlone and the more rural areas.
“I think that is the DA’S main concern in the 2024 elections,” Sussman said in an interview in November.