ANC grabs 2 slices of IFP pie

The ANC has won two wards previously held by the IFP in KwaZulu-Natal, the party said.

|||

The ANC has won two wards previously held by the IFP in KwaZulu-Natal, the party said on Thursday.

Spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said the ANC contested four wards in KwaZulu-Natal in by-elections held on Wednesday.

The party retained two wards and won two - ward three in Estcourt and ward 12 in Eshowe - from the IFP.

The IFP, currently in the throws of a leadership battle between current president Mangosuthu Buthelezi and national chairwoman Zanele Magwaza-Msibi, won only one of the four by-elections it contested.

The party blamed Magwaza-Msibi for the losses.

“All Magwaza-Msibi has managed to do in Estcourt and Eshowe was to hand these former IFP strongholds to the ANC without seriously challenging the IFP through her own breakaway candidates,” said IFP national organiser Albert Mncwango in a statement.

He said the party was aware that Wednesday's by-election was seen as a “litmus test” of potential support for Magwaza-Msibi should she opt to form a breakaway party.

“If this was a test, Magwaza-Msibi has failed it dismally and she knows it.”

Mncwango said the IFP captured more votes than the “independent” candidates who represented the breakaway party under consideration by Magwaza-Msibi.

“The Estcourt by-election result is particularly disconcerting since the ANC took the ward from the IFP by a mere two votes,” said Mncwango.

The Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday dismissed Magwaza-Msibi's attempt to force an elective conference and prevent a disciplinary enquiry against her.

Wiseman Mcoyi, of the “Friends of VZ” group that supports Magwaza-Msibi, Nhlanhla Khawula, and Thokozani Zulu lodged papers in the same court in July challenging their expulsion and the legality of the current party leadership.

The three were kicked out of the IFP after they openly campaigned for Magwaza-Msibi. The party's elective conference was postponed six times since July last year.

Her supporters claim she was being prevented from taking part in the race to succeed Buthelezi.

A by-elections was also held in the Eastern Cape, in Mnquma (Butterworth), where the ANC retained its ward. -

Sapa

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/anc-grabs-2-slices-of-ifp-pie-1.1014727

Gay and lesbian travel JS Bach Blackpool Madagascar Radio Science fiction