IFP member Sanele Zondi told scores of party supporters in KwaMashu, north of Durban, yesterday that the governing party was no different to the former National Party government.
Zondi said this could be seen in the way the governing party was treating voters.
He said the party left the majority of South Africans in squalor with nothing but poverty.
“There is no difference between the ANC government and the apartheid regime which was toppled in 1994,” Zondi added.
The party’s provincial chairperson and its premier candidate, Thami Ntuli, said the IFP was the only organisation that could save the people of KwaZulu-Natal and the province at large as well as returning it to its former glory.
“As the IFP we have a proven track record in clean governance and delivering key infrastructure. The first thing the IFP will do once we take over the provincial government, we will revive the City of Durban which, under the leadership of the ANC, is falling apart,” said Ntuli.
He told party supporters that a working Durban was good for the economy of the province.
Ntuli said this as piles of containers continue to be stuck at the Durban harbour due to non-working equipment.
The issue has led to many companies losing millions of rand daily while their shipments are stuck in the harbour.
The IFP’s provincial chairperson warned voters and party supporters not to be robbed by what he called the “same tsotsi”, referring to the ANC, every five years.
Ntuli also took a swipe at the newly established uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, also warning voters not to be fooled by it.
“This other new party, it is still the same ‘tsotsi’ even after it has changed its outfit and songs,” he said.
He was speaking at the party’s activation ahead of its manifesto launch, which is expected to held at the Moses Mabhida Stadium next month.
The IFP’s national spokesperson, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, slammed ANC MP Sylvia Lucas for her comment on load shedding, which she said was not the end of the world.
“The statement by Lucas shows how ANC leaders think and view the years-long energy crisis that has led to job losses and the closing of legions of businesses,” Hlengwa said.
He also urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to announce the date for the elections.
Lucas made the load shedding remarks during the State of the Nation Address debate in Parliament last week.
She received a backlash from social media users, with some saying it was easy for her to make such utterances when she was having it easy and did not experience the severity of the rolling blackouts.
The Star