WATCH | IFP unshaken as Malema plots to remove party from Newcastle political helm

The EFF’s move to vie for more political power in KwaZulu-Natal and become one of the biggest parties in the province has seen it not only eyeing ANC stronghold municipalities but also those of the IFP.

At the weekend EFF leader Julius Malema mandated his deputy Floyd Shivambu to form a link with the ANC and the red berets' breakaway party Team Sugar South Africa (TSSA) to remove the IFP leadership in the Newcastle municipality before the 2024 national elections. Currently the TSSA is in a coalition with the IFP.

Malema said the red berets were willing to give TSSA the mayor position should it agree to vote out the IFP. 

“We are fighting with the IFP. We are prepared to give Team Sugar mayor of Newcastle, so we remove the IFP before the elections. DP [Shivambu], it is your mandate to go and speak with Team Sugar and the ANC and say, ‘Though we do not work together, come here, we want to deal with Inkatha’,” he said.

Malema described this as one of the moves the party should make to become a “fearless alternative” party in KwaZulu-Natal to hit ANC and IFP strongholds.

“We cannot say we are an alternative when we are scared of the IFP and ANC. We must combine them and defeat them in KwaZulu-Natal.” 

Without TSSA and ANC votes in the 67-seat Newcastle council, the EFF’s plans to axe the IFP will not materialise. The ANC has 22 seats, the IFP has 18 seats, the EFF has eight and TSSA seven.

The ANC, EFF and TSSA combined have 37 votes, which would leave the IFP with 30 votes.

IFP national spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa seemed unfazed by the EFF’s plans.

“Over the past few hours, we have been inundated with media inquiries to react to utterances by EFF leader Julius Malema at a rent-a-crowd event held in Pietermaritzburg this past weekend. As a general rule asiwuphenduli umsangano [we do not respond to madness],” Hlengwa said. 

The EFF and IFP previously worked together in hung municipalities in the province after the 2021 local government elections, but things soured earlier this year. Malema instructed EFF regional leaders in the province to resign from municipal leadership positions and break away from the coalition, accusing the IFP of not treating them as an equal partner. 

The EFF plans to hold its manifesto launch next February at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in eThekwini. Malema told party members to work hard as he wanted a big showing at the stadium after an overflow at the FNB Stadium for the party’s 10th anniversary celebrations earlier this year.

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