Buthelezi’s succession plan opposed
Decades-old hold on IFP slipping as rank and file nix trade-off
● IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s succession plan hangs in the balance after his brand of unity was rejected by branches on Friday night, signalling the beginning of the end of his 40-year stranglehold on the party.
An attempt by Buthelezi to anoint a provincial leader in KwaZulu-Natal fell flat on Friday after branches indicated that they would put up their own candidate.
Buthelezi wanted to use the KwaZulu-Natal leadership position as a trade-off to stop a faction from contesting his own preferred successor when the party holds its elective conference in August to choose a new leader. Buthelezi, who wants to avoid a bruising leadership contest, prefers to be succeeded by Velenkosini Hlabisa, leader of the IFP in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature.
A delegate who attended the provincial council on Friday night, ahead of the party’s KwaZulu-Natal elective conference, told the Sunday Times that councillors, secretaries and chairs of constituencies disagreed with Buthelezi that Nkandla mayor Thami Ntuli be unopposed as provincial leader.
Ntuli is vying for the position of provincial chair currently held by Mbangiseni Yengwa, who wants to be re-elected.
The delegate said Buthelezi had urged them to back one candidate to avoid creating camps, but this was not the view of the branches.
Party spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa confirmed that both Ntuli and Yengwa were nominated to compete for the post.
There are two entrenched factions in the IFP — the KKK and the AU.
Ntuli comes from the KKK faction and Yengwa from the AU faction, which is also the faction to which Hlabisa, Buthelezi’s preferred successor for the top post, belongs.
An IFP national executive committee (NEC) member told the Sunday Times that though party leaders grudgingly accepted Buthelezi’s choice of successor, they would not budge on the provincial leadership.
“There was the issue of Hlabisa [who] was imposed on us but we accepted him. Now you will know there was a faction that did not want him. That faction now wants the mayor of Nkandla [Ntuli] and went to Buthelezi to demand that he does the same for Ntuli, that there be no contest and Ntuli becomes chairperson of the province,” said the NEC member.
According to insiders, if Buthelezi works against Ntuli, he runs the risk of a revolt that will end up with Hlabisa being ambushed with an unexpected contest in August. That could split the party when Buthelezi goes.
Spokesperson Hlengwa denied Buthelezi had attempted to sway branches to support Ntuli, but rather characterised his speech at the provincial council as “presidential and fatherly advice”. “He spoke about the perpetuation of divisions and camps and said at any cost we must avoid those things, indicating the importance of unity,” said Hlengwa. “He was really just giving guidance ahead of the conference. He did not try to install anyone.”
Hlengwa said the extended national council, which nominated Hlabisa as Buthelezi’s successor in 2017, would help facilitate the leadership transition.
“Subsequently there was another extended national council where there was a suggestion that we must do a similar exercise with other positions for the purpose of smooth transition of leadership.
“That process is under way; the president implored the provincial council to consider its business along those lines, for them to take lessons from that and see if it will work for them,” he said.
Fears are growing that Hlabisa could be challenged at the national conference and that the KKK faction might nominate their own candidate from the floor.
“This conference will determine if the succession plan goes according to plan. If Ntuli does not win then there is no telling what his faction will do to Hlabisa in August,” said another NEC member.
Several party members credited Yengwa with the recent resurgence of the IFP in KwaZulu-Natal, where the party was able to claw back some of the losses it suffered provincially in 2014 to become the official opposition in 2019.
“Ntuli is good as a mayor but he doesn’t have a good track record with organisational work. He was the chairperson of the King Cetshwayo district but he failed dismally to bring the district back to the IFP,” said a constituency leader. “Yengwa’s political leadership has seen us grow back to what we were in this province. He is loved — that is why it is difficult to remove him.”