Daily News
Via email: [email protected]
Subject:LETTER TO THE EDITOR: BY MR ALBERT MNCWANGO MP (IFP)
Your interpretation of events that led to my resignation from the position of IFP National Organiser (Top IFP official resigns, 11 January) rests exclusively on the views of political analyst Protas Madlala whose deep-seated dislike of the IFP is well documented.
The proposal to replace me, a politician, with a technocrat was merely a discussion point due to be considered by an upcoming National Council meeting which alone has the authority to ask the National Organiser to resign.
I regret that I did not wait for the party’s National Council, which is its highest decision-making body, to pronounce on this proposal, but announced my resignation before it could be discussed, let alone agreed on, by the National Council. My greatest regret is the harm my premature statement caused my political organisation and its leader.
Nevertheless, Madlala is quick to link my resignation to the recent departures of other political office bearers from the IFP, all of which occurred for vastly different personal reasons best known to the individuals concerned and, in each case, respected by the party.
Madlala is also mistaking a lively debate and a widespread respect for the correct procedure within the IFP for signs of authoritarian leadership. This could not be further from the truth, considering that the IFP leadership has consistently nurtured a culture of vigorous internal debate in the party’s ranks since its inception in 1975.
The only element in the story about my resignation to which the IFP objects is my obvious disregard for the party’s internal procedures, which is something every political organisation would seek to assert in similar circumstances. For Madlala, unsurprisingly, this is evidence enough of the IFP’s authoritarian ways. As always when Madlala comments about the IFP, his “political analysis” is way off the mark.
Albert Mncwango MP