THE National Freedom Party plans to win KwaZulu-Natal or become the official opposition party in the province.

This was announced by NFP leader Zanele Magwaza-Msibi at the party's one-year anniversary in the Dlamini Communal Hall in Soweto yesterday.

Magwaza-Msibi said the party was focusing on strengthening its branches nationwide.

"We want to take over KwaZulu-Natal with an outright majority. If we fail, we want to be the official opposition in the province.

"At national level, we want to ensure that there is no province in South Africa where there will be no representation of the NFP," she said.

Just 12 weeks after the NFP was launched, it contested local government elections and managed to get 1.2million votes nationally.

And because there was no outright winner in 19 municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, the NFP partnered with the ANC to run the municipalities.

Magwaza-Msibi said the party was willing to work with any party, including the IFP, but that the IFP needed to retract the insults it had used when the NFP was formed.

"They refused (to apologise) and we were forced to work with the ANC in the 19 municipalities."

She said the party had already formed 846 branches throughout the country.

"We want to get 1.8million support for the 2014 national elections," Magwaza-Msibi said.

She also said on Friday that three party members had been gunned down in KwaMashu, and urged NFP members not to retaliate.

"We are not going to lose sight of the fact that we are a peace-loving party but we would like to ensure that the police do their work," she said.

Magwaza-Msibi said the party's national executive committee had taken a decision that the party needed to bring other races into its membership.

"Our focus from now is mobilisation of people ... having strong branches so that the party is visible and vocal ... in preparation for 2014."

"I'm preaching to our members that there is no party that can grow if there is no discipline and following the rules and principle of the party," she concluded.