Durban - The IFP is set to host a joint rally scheduled to be addressed by both the party's founder and President Emeritus Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi and its incumbent leader Velenkosini Hlabisa in uPhongolo, in Zululand, on Friday in what the party has described as pulling out all the stops to ensure victory at the polls.
Speaking to Independent Media, IFP national spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said that they were now on the final stretch of what had been a successful campaign and by deploying Buthelezi and his successor Hlabisa to the northern parts of the province where the party enjoys huge support, they wanted to ensure an electoral victory for the party in the areas it had specifically targeted.
"The two leaders' diaries were allowing for them to be both present in uPhongolo and we welcome the fact that they're really working together and the President Emeritus continues to oversee the transition of leadership in the party.
"Today is really about ensuring that we pull out all the stops to ensure an electoral victory for the IFP, but more so, because the IFP wants to make sure that we retain the municipalities that we govern and build on them. Zululand District is a key and priority district for the IFP and of course the President Emeritus is from Zululand and he also has a keen interest to ensure that we're successful in that part of the country," Hlengwa said.
He said that they had been deliberate and strategic in holding their campaigns in the party's strongholds such as Abaqulusi and Nongoma, while the IFP's closing rally of their campaign trail will be held in Ulundi next Thursday.
"We're quite deliberate about going all out, yesterday the Secretary General (Sipho Ngcobo) was in uThukela and the President was in uThukela on Sunday. We are really wanting to make sure that the leadership is deployed strategically in the key areas that we're targeting," Hlengwa said.
Political Bureau