National Assembly:   18 August 2009

Honourable Speaker,

By-elections are an important part of our electoral process and a good indicator of the support that political parties have.

Over the past few years, particularly after the recent general elections, there have been many prophets of doom and critics who have continued to write the IFP off as a spent political force and attempted to consign us to an early grave. The reality of the situation is that the IFP continues to defy these pessimists and maintains a strong support base amongst the electorate. The recent by-elections in KwaZulu Natal bear testimony to this fact.

The IFP is proud to have won four by-elections out of five across KwaZulu Natal recently, Umvoti (ward 9), Indaka (ward 6), Okhamhlamba (ward 1) and Nqutu (ward 5) despite expectations by many that we would fail.

These results should serve as a timely reminder that the IFP should not be underestimated and is still a political fore to be reckoned with.

I thank you.

Contact: Liezl van der Merwe, 083 611 7470.