Current IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa wearing a T-shirt displaying the face of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi. Picture: File
DURBAN - There will be consequences to face for IFP members who have defied the party by buying, wearing and posting on social media regalia bearing the face of its current president.
IFP members are allowed to wear only regalia with the face of founder and emeritus president Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi. Transgressors will be identified and investigated to determine their intentions, but there will not be a “one-size-fits-all” approach to discipline.
Siphosethu Ngcobo, general secretary of the IFP, has been quelling fires since issuing a letter on Thursday to all district secretaries requesting that they provide him with lists of members who have worn regalia bearing current president Velenkosini Hlabisa’s face.
Ngcobo explained that the communiqué was directed at party members who understood the resolution taken at their 2019 conference.
He told the Sunday Tribune that his office had already received relevant information, and that the consequences would vary for those found guilty.
“It will only depend on the intentions and motives of the people. There are cases where there will be none, while some will be light.
“Some members bought regalia innocently. They were attracted by quality, forgetting that they were transgressing.
“We have to consider all these things. We will be listening to our members, trying to ascertain whether they are being honest or not,” he said.
Although it would be difficult to distinguish intentions through interactions with transgressors, it would all depend on how well they were able to convince those who would be questioning them.
“The merits will differ for each case. Sometimes you can easily find deceivers, and they will lead us to others. We want people to do the proper thing,” he said.
When asked if Buthelezi would continue being the face of the IFP indefinitely, Ngcobo said any changes the party made in this regard would be discussed at its conference.
“The conference will make a decision, but as far as I am concerned, I do not necessarily think it will be like that. With an immediate change, people would need to be taken along, especially the voters that have confidence in the IFP. There are political parties without a face – we could also go for that option in future – but it will be a different decision for different reasons.”
Ngcobo said members who were openly defying the party were taking chances, but they had to respect what had been agreed upon.
“When a decision is made, sometimes it gets an overwhelming majority, but often there are those who disagree. In this case, there was huge support,” said Ngcobo.
But some followers of the party disagree with Ngcobo, finding the move to punish those who owned the inappropriate regalia “petty”. They emphasise that the focus should be on next year’s elections.
Silindokuhle Sibonelo Sithebe took to social media and said: “This means that Hlabisa is just a puppet. Clearly, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi is still in charge.”
Zakes Ngidi said the party was “a joke”, as it was failing to move out from under Buthelezi’s shadow.
Joseph Madumo said he was surprised by the thought processes of the party’s leaders, who were prioritising faces, instead of helping families still displaced by last year’s floods.
"Do they ever think about the failure of the government to address the flood-displaced poor people who are still begging to be housed, (as well as the) roads and bridges destroyed?,” he asked.
The IFP Youth Brigade’s Sanele Zondo said they fully backed the decision to enforce discipline, and said that, even when Prince Buthelezi is resting in his grave, they would continue wearing regalia bearing his face.
He said having Buthelezi on the party’s T-shirts was a way to honour and respect him for founding the party and ensuring its longevity.
“This is why our secretary-general saw the need to issue his statement to ensure that we find those trying to divide the party by printing regalia bearing the face of the current leader, Velenkosini Hlabisa.”
He further stated that the commotion caused by outsiders about their decision was intended to sow division within the IFP.
“Members of other political parties, particularly the ruling party, still use regalia bearing the faces of their long-gone heroes, but there has never been an instance where people make such noise, which is why we believe that this was an attempt to cause havoc within the IFP, and we won't allow that to happen,” said Zondo.
Siyabonga Ntombela, a political analyst at UKZN, said the IFP’s call for matching regalia was warranted, as the resolution was taken during the party’s conference and it was also a way of micromanaging members and the constituency.
“Leading up to the 2024 elections, you need someone who is popular and can resonate with people. Although Buthelezi has taken a back seat, he is still the reservoir of knowledge. They still consult with him, and he is still instrumental in their rallies, so he is very influential, and that makes it difficult to discredit him,” said Ntombela.
According to Ntombela, Hlabisa was operating under the shadow of Buthelezi and lacked charisma, regardless of his intellect. However, he highlighted that Hlabisa had strong negotiation skills, the ability to choose parties to go into coalition government with the IFP, and was firm.
He said there was infighting in the IFP, but that it was not about challenging Hlabisa’s authority. The conflict arose from the fact that some in the party wanted to divorce from Buthelezi and honour the existing leader, giving him their full support, especially with the 2024 elections looming.
He said there was no democracy within the party.
“Democracy is not only about the rule of the people by the people and for the people, but it also has to speak to the freeness and the fairness in terms of how free you are to make your own rules as a sitting president. That does not seem to be the case with the IFP,” said Ntombela.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE