Durban — The EFF’S decision to work with the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has come back to haunt them after several councillors joined the IFP in the province.
The remark was made by councillor Bongimpilo Nhlengethwa, who resigned as Abaqulusi Local Municipality (ALM) as well as Zululand regional secretary on Sunday.
On Tuesday, the IFP introduced Nhlengethwa, former ALM EFF councillor Zanele Nzuza and other members from Zululand to the media.
WATCH: TWO Zululand EFF councillors being introduced as new IFP members in a media briefing currently taking place in Durban. @DailyNewsSA pic.twitter.com/Hjl76I91VR
— Willem phungula (@PhungulaWillem) March 28, 2023
IFP provincial chairperson Thami Ntuli introduced 40 ANC members, 48 from ActionSA, 37 from Philani Mavundla’s Abantu Batho Congress and a former NFP councillor candidate.
Nhlengethwa claimed the ANC was oppressing people and he could not work with the party. Nhlengethwa felt the IFP worked for the betterment of the people.
Ntuli said this gave the IFP a solid base to build upon in its quest to take the people of KwaZulu-Natal from the ANC in the 2024 general elections.
Ntuli said, in recent weeks, the IFP had been inundated with calls from all corners of the province, from people who wanted to join them, including leaders and councillors from different political parties.
“We have noted that the political miscalculation of the EFF leadership – to betray its voters in this province by deciding to collaborate with the ANC in governance – is now yielding positive results for the IFP,” Ntuli said.
EFF provincial secretary Nkululeko Ngubane dismissed Nhlengethwa’s assertion the party’s decision to work with ANC was backfiring.
He said Nhlengethwa was suspended for alleged involvement in corruption in the municipality. On Nzuza’s resignation, Ngubane would not comment, saying she was little known so there was nothing the party would say about her. Ngubane said the EFF had new people joining every day but did not parade them in public.
EFF Abaqulusi local Municipality councillor Bongimpilo Nhlengethwa who was also party secretary has formally joined IFP in KZN.@DailyNewsSA pic.twitter.com/R0p243yIfT
— Willem phungula (@PhungulaWillem) March 28, 2023
NFP secretary Canaan Mdletshe said it was laughable the IFP celebrated that someone who had been rejected by people in its ward, was joining them.
The ANC provincial spokesperson said the IFP was taking people from the street and parading them as ANC members, and challenged Ntuli to produce proof those who joined were ANC members.
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