An IFP MPL in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, Mr Blessed Gwala, has criticised Mr Mike Tarr, for using his position in the legislature's standing committee on public accounts as a political weapon to tarnish the image of the IFP and its leader, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

Mr Gwala said: "Mr Mike Tarr is cynically exploiting the issue of the maintenance of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi's home in Ulundi to insinuate that government funds have been misappropriated."

Mr Gwala further noted: "Mr Mike Tarr is presently barred from taking part in all parliamentary activities as the question of the legality of his and the other parliamentarian defections and the floor-crossing legislation is presently before the Constitutional Court."