Pretoria – Despite being formed only three months ago, the hard work of the National Freedom Party (NFP) seems to have paid off as they have managed to wrest control of two local municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, which were strongholds of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
As the vote count continues, the NFP presence has been felt in Nongoma and Dumbe in Paulpietersburg as they secured 44 percent and 51.91 percent of votes respectively, leaving the IFP with 16.3 percent in Dumbe and 40.64 percent in Nongoma.
NFP Executive Member Muzonjani Zulu attributed the party’s success to its President Zanele Magwaza-Msibi, who has been working very hard criss-crossing the country.
Zulu said people have faith in Magwaza-Zulu as they have seen her in action while she was a mayor of Zululand for 13 years where she managed to bring development and change in people’s lives.
“She is a hard worker, always wants to win in whatever she does and always puts people’s interests first ….this has become evident as the party did not only get votes in KZN but Gauteng, Eastern Cape and the North West,” Zulu said.
Turning to rumours that the party might form a coalition with other political parties like the ANC and IFP, Zulu said no party has approached them yet, noting that even if they do, they will have to consult with their members first.
“On Sunday the executive will have a meeting where we will analyse the results and identify the weakness, which led us not to be able to win other municipalities and discuss a way forward as we are aiming to see our party grow and get more votes in the next elections in 2014,” he said.
Meanwhile, the IFP which has lost a number of local municipalities has vowed to get back on its feet. IFP Chairperson, Musa Zondi, said they will build their party and prepare for the next elections.
“We are down but we are not out, we still be on the game to compete with other parties,” said Zondi. The party only managed to retain two of its municipalities, Ulundi and uMsinga, while the ANC took over several municipalities associated with the IFP. – BuaNews
