The IFP has every reason to believe that the sudden appointment of former KwaZulu Natal Treasury boss Sipho Shabalala as CEO of Ithala in place of Ike Nxedlana is a last-minute attempt by the ruling party to cover up corruption ahead of the upcoming election. 

"Ike Nxedlana, who took over from the infamous Sipho Nyembezi as CEO of Ithala last year, was obviously probing too deep in the pit of corruption which embroils this once transparent state entity," said Leader of the Official Opposition in KwaZulu Natal Dr Lionel Mtshali. 

The IFP is not surprised by the changeover at the helm of Ithala just weeks before a general election. "In recent years, Ithala's capital has been systematically looted by the ruling party and its closest associates through loans awarded without slightest guarantees to ANC officials and their relatives," said Dr Mtshali.      

The upcoming election campaign, the IFP maintains, provided a unique opportunity for the media and the opposition parties to unearth sleaze.

"Nxedlana, who showed determination to get to the bottom of many irregularities at Ithala, could not last long with so much at stake," said Dr Mtshali. 

The IFP views the virtual disintegration of Ithala as a bona fide development agency under the erstwhile KwaZulu Government into the proverbial den of iniquity under the ANC management as one of the biggest failures of the incumbent provincial government to promote economic development along transparent lines.