Ex-IFP Slabbert flees home

2003-04-08 23:44

Sue Segar

Cape Town - Former Inkatha Freedom Party Transport spokesperson Jan Slabbert, who defected from the IFP to establish the Peace and Development Party (PDP) in KwaZulu-Natal, has moved out of his home in the IFP-stronghold of Vryheid, following a number of intimidating phone calls and death threats.

A number of reliable sources told the Natal Witness that Slabbert has been living in fear since he announced his defection from the IFP. Slabbert reportedly knows who is responsible for the threats.

He has not answered his cellphone for the past two days and has not returned calls, saying through a source that he would rather not deal directly with the media.

The sources said Slabbert left his home in Vryheid a few days ago because he "feels unsafe".

"Vryheid is an IFP stronghold and a lot of threats are coming from that area," one source said.

"Jan's vote was the one vote the IFP needed in the province. Now all the wrath is aimed at his head."

Slabbert was one of three national IFP MPs who were redeployed on a non-negotiable basis to KZN in February to strengthen the IFP in the province.

But the IFP's plan backfired when Slabbert announced the formation of the PDP, saying he had felt humiliated by his redeployment.

When he returned to the province, his job description was "monitoring the performance of public representatives".

Slabbert felt that he was not consulted by the IFP about his redeployment, after what he believed was an "honourable and committed" career in public life. His political career has spanned seventeen years in local government, six of which were spent as Mayor of Vryheid and he was a member of the National Assembly from 1994.

"He is being harassed constantly. He is phoned in the morning and the evening. It is appalling," one of the sources said.

ANC chief whip Ina Cronje said on Monday the threats against Slabbert fly in the face of the fundamentals of democracy. "We will take a very dim view of anyone in the legislature intimidating or threatening anybody. We all have a right to be there as members of the legislature and anybody who plays politics by threatening people has no place in a democracy."

- The Witness