Inside the growing faction war threatening the IFP’s future

THE GROWING divisions within the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) are beginning to stir fears that one of South Africa’s oldest political parties could be entering its most dangerous period since its formation 51 years ago.

- SABELO NSELE

IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa has issued a stern warning to party members fuelling divisions over campaign T-shirts bearing either his image or that of the late IFP founder, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, ahead of the local government elections. I Independent Newspapers Archives

For months, tensions within the party have simmered beneath the surface. But recent events, including leaked voice notes, allegations of intimidation, suspensions of senior members and open factional hostility, suggest the cracks may now be too deep to conceal.

Political history in South Africa offers many warnings about what happens when dominant parties become consumed by internal warfare. The IFP itself has travelled this road before. The ANC has travelled it too.

The question now being quietly asked in political circles across KwaZulu-Natal is whether the IFP can survive the storm gathering inside its own ranks.

Lessons from the ANC's decline

South Africa’s political landscape is littered with examples of parties weakened by internal conflict.

The ANC’s decline did not happen overnight. It began with factions competing for control of the movement and eventually spiralled into splinter parties, leadership wars and electoral decline.

The turning point came at the ANC’s 2007 elective conference in Polokwane, where supporters of former president Jacob Zuma defeated those aligned to then-president Thabo Mbeki.

The aftermath reshaped South African politics.

Disgruntled ANC leaders broke away to form the Congress of the People (COPE), which went on to secure more than a million votes and 30 seats in Parliament in the 2009 elections. Although COPE later collapsed under the weight of internal leadership battles, the damage to the ANC had already begun.

The fractures continued.