Canaan Mdletshe

Canaan Mdletshe

The Inkatha Freedom Party in Durban's eThekwini municipality stormed out of a full council meeting yesterday during a heated argument over the renaming of the King Senzangakhona Stadium, the city's International Convention Centre as well as some streets in Durban.

Last year, the ANC proposed that King Senzangakhona Stadium, formerly King's Park soccer stadium, be named Moses Mabhida Stadium and the ICC renamed Chief Albert Luthuli Convention Centre. At the time the IFP and other opposition parties opposed the proposal.

Yesterday was the final debate on the matter and the ANC said it was forging ahead with the process despite objections.

Before they stormed out, the IFP's Thembi Nzuza, the party's caucus leader, accused the ANC of "failing their heroes".

She said what happened in November last year during the official burial of Moses Mabhida in Pietermaritzburg, when ANC supporters booed and walked out of the stadium when President Thabo Mbeki was about to speak, was a clear indication that the party had failed dismally to honour its own stalwarts.

Her comment was received with anger and tempers flared in the ANC ranks who called her to order.

But Nzuza went on to accuse the ruling party of overriding the community's rights by not consulting them properly before the proposed changes.

"As much as this is in honour of the struggle heroes, other parties did play a role in the struggle.

"And you are overriding the community's right by failing to consult them properly. Business people will have to change their letterheads, but you couldn't care less about all the trouble they have to go through," she said.