IFP rejects ANC merger

2008-08-24 16:05

Cape Town - The Inkatha Freedom Party has thrown its weight behind its leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi's rejection of a merger proposal by the African National Congress.

In a resolution approved at its annual conference in Ulundi, which ended on Sunday, the party said the ANC and IFP should continue to function as "competing political entities".

"It is the intention of the IFP to function, as it has done since its inception, as a distinct and independent political force promoting the vision and values it has developed over many decades.

Political 'marriage'

"There will be no 'merger' with the ANC or any other party at any time whatsoever."

It said it found the suggestion of a political "marriage" strange when many in the ANC, and particularly ANC leadership in KwaZulu-Natal, continued to vilify Buthelezi.

The overture to the IFP was made by ANC president Jacob Zuma, himself a son of the province, who said the move would ensure lasting peace in the province - particularly ahead of next year's general election.

Buthelezi told the conference last week that IFP members should not allow Zuma to appeal to them simply because of his Zulu ethnicity.

"There are political illiterates among us who are trying to pretend the differences of policy and strategy between the ANC and the IFP will be wiped out merely because the leader of the ANC is a Zulu," he said.

Opposition party co-operation

In a separate resolution, the Ulundi conference said it noted recent comments by Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille on the need for opposition party co-operation and strategic alliances.

"Conference... supports opposition party co-operation following elections, but not before elections so as to ensure that voters can vote for the party of their choice without any doubts as to hidden and confusing political alliances," it said.

Parties should work together on the basis of policy preferences, not expedient grabs for power.

The conference condemned the ANC's moves to disband the Scorpions and to place dissolution of the SABC board under the control of a committee of Parliament.

It said an increasing number of citizens were fearful about the fragility of South African democracy and clear threats to the independence of the judiciary, freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

It also called for VAT to be scrapped on more food items, a judicial inquiry into the arms deal, and the reintroduction of hard labour as a punishment for certain categories of crime.

- SAPA