Durban — The IFP is currently on the campaign trail in the Northern Cape towns of Kimberley, Kuruman and Upington to increase its footprint nationally.
The party has deployed Petros Ngubane, one of its national executive committee members and the mayor of Umzinyathi District Municipality, to generate interest in the party in the province.
Speaking to the Daily News on Sunday while in Kimberley, Ngubane said the party was growing exponentially back home in KwaZulu-Natal.
This had prompted the NEC to visit other provinces to listen to people’s concerns so that they can be incorporated into the party’s manifesto for next year’s general election.
Ngubane said he had been impressed by the warm welcome he had received from the communities he had engaged with, saying people had stopped his car and demanded T-shirts before he had even arrived at the venue where he was due address them.
“I have realised that people have high hopes in the IFP. They told me that they want to give us a chance because other parties they have been voting for have done nothing for them. I will return with a good report to the NEC,” said Ngubane.
His target was to garner 30 000 votes, which would get the IFP a seat in the Northern Cape provincial legislature, and also one in the National Assembly.
The IFP currently does not have any representatives in the Northern Cape legislature or any of the province’s municipalities.
In previous elections, a few IFP councillors had been elected to various Northern Cape municipalities, but the party had failed to win any seats in last year’s local government elections.
Founded in KZN more than 40 years ago, the IFP has never governed any province or municipality outside its province of origin.
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