MEDIA STATEMENT
BY THE
INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY
KZN Premier's Imbizo - IFP Sets the Record Straight
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The IFP said today that it wanted to set the record straight following the Premier's Imbizo, which was held in KwaZulu Natal yesterday, where the ANC-led government entertained lies and half-truths about the IFP and the IFP-led uMhlabuyalingana municipality. "The IFP does not condone maladministration, however we will not sit back while lies are being peddled about the uMhlabuyalingana municipality and by implication, the IFP, as the party that controls that municipality," said Alfred Mpontshane MP, the IFP's Umkhanyakude district chairperson. It was said at the Imibizo that the IFP only employs card carrying IFP members in IFP-led municipalities. "This is devoid of any truth as we employ any suitable candidates on merit, without asking which political party they support. We are aware that we do have several ANC members working within IFP-led municipalities," said Mpontshane. Mpontshane said that it was time that the public knew the truth about the ANC and its underhanded tactics in KwaZulu Natal. "Just this week, the ANC distributed food parcels to the storm ravaged communities of Jozini and Newcastle, but only to ANC supporters. So again it is the pot calling the kettle black - the ANC accuses the IFP of all sorts of untruths, but it is in fact the ANC that is guilty of working on a party-political patronage system," said Mpontshane. Mpontshane said it has also come to his attention that IFP members are being removed from top government posts. "We are aware that the ANC are now purging top KZN government employees suspected of being IFP members and we have got the facts to prove it," said Mpontshane. Mpontshane added that another worrying factor is a tendency to blame the IFP for delivery failures, when in fact it is the failure of the KZN government to deliver basic services to the people. "When the citizens of KZN complained about the lack of service delivery in their communities at this Imbizo, the MECs present were quick to blame the problem on the local municipalities, when in fact the provision of housing, electricity and water are not competencies of municipalities but they are provincial and national competencies," said Mpontshane. He concluded: "We are calling on the ANC to stop peddling lies and to instead start educating our rural communities about cooperative governance and what it entails. It is also time for the ANC government to be frank about the failures of their administration and to stop blaming their shortcomings on the IFP," concluded Mpontshane. Contact: |