‘THE IFP is alive and stronger; everywhere I go people ask me about the IFP. However the same people are nowhere to be found during elections, and this points to one thing, that we as leaders are not doing our work.’
This was the sentiment expressed on the weekend by IFP National Chairperson, Blessed Gwala, at the inauguration of IFP branches in Nseleni Mazimazana.
Gwala said while the IFP was not ready to die, he was worried by the conduct of some leaders, who after being elected into position of authority tend to become lazy.
‘There is no way we can win elections if our leaders themselves are not active in reviving our structures.
‘It’s not a question of struggling to lure people to the IFP. The people are there, they love the IFP and they love our leader umNtwana wakwaPhindangene, but they are not being recruited.
‘We can not just assume that because people love our party, they will automatically vote for us.
‘We need to meet them halfway, by embarking on mobilising and recruitment campaigns.
‘Many of them don’t have their ID books and are not registered to vote, but we are not doing anything about it.
‘If we lose an election, we have no one else but ourselves to blame,’ he said.
Gwala also welcomed to his party 39 new members, who came from the NFP and ANC.
‘This is the product of our Operation Buyelekhaya campaign, which is bearing fruit. We did the same in Vryheid last week, when we welcomed more than 1 000 new members who have joined the IFP.
‘We need to make these new members feel at home, and we must do away with this foreign tendency of mistreating our new members, by reminding them of their past.
‘Now that they are here with us, let us embrace them and work with them to recruit more members.
Gwala said the 2016 Local Government Election presented a perfect opportunity for them to bounce back, by reclaiming many municipalities lost in the 2011 Local Government Election, before gearing up for the 2019 election.
The IF’Ps rally was also attended by a Member of Parliament, iNkosi Nsikayezwe Cebekhulu, who facilitated the inauguration of the two branches, and other local leaders.
