08.02.2026
Latest

IFP rallies support ahead of Umzumbe by-election

6 mins



  • Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader, Velenkosini Hlabisa

Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader, Velenkosini Hlabisa, asked voters of Umzumbe on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast to set the tone in the upcoming by-election in the local government elections, later this year.

Hlabisa addressed thousands of supporters at a rally in the Ndumakude area of Ward 13.

The IFP says it’s also using the by-election to stress-test their election campaign ahead of the local government elections, which are expected to be held, in November.

While IFP mayors as far afield as Jozini and Richards Bay attended the election rally, also out and about was parliamentarians, its national council members and supporters of other parties were also out drumming support ahead of the by-election on Wednesday in ward 13.

The ward is hotly contested by the IFP, the African National Congress ANC, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party and the National Freedom Party (NFP).

The IFP and ANC have been co-governing the municipality since 2021, when both parties won 17 seats each of the 39 council seats.

Hlabisa asked voters to help the IFP bring stability to the local government sphere, as it did in the 2024 general elections, giving rise to a government of national unity, and a provincial government of unity in KwaZulu-Natal.

‘The people of South Africa have demonstrated that they trust the IFP. This has been evident, as I have said, in a number of by-elections. Even the government of KwaZulu-Natal reflects the positive response of our communities, how Premier Ntuli and his team in the coalition government, the GPU, are leading the province. They have restored confidence, and even investors and businesspeople are now more willing to invest,” says Hlabisa.

The ward became vacant when the IFP councilor, Siyabonga Doncabe resigned pending a disciplinary hearing about his performance. While Doncabe has joined the MK Party, the Umzumbe municipality’s audit outcomes showed a decline since 2022.

Hlabisa says the IFP will meet with all its municipal leaders at the beginning of March to discuss the Auditor General reports.

“We will be going through the Auditor General reports for all municipalities, to ensure the issues raised by the AG, we attend to them. We are very happy though that there are municipalities with very good audit outcomes. I was acknowledging Mrs Xulu, a woman, a mayor of Umlalazi. She is known as Mrs Clean Audit because of a period of four years in a row with a clean audit,” adds Hlabisa.

A PR councilor, Bhakanyile Shozi, IFP’s candidate in the by-election has been described by Hlabisa as a hard-working councillor, who knows the challenges facing the community.

“We are looking forward to Mam uShozi as our candidate, as a woman who knows the challenges of the community and especially, the frustrations our women are having. I even made a clarion call to male persons to give respect to our women,” says Shozi.

With a number of by-elections coming up in the coming weeks in KwaZulu-Natal, National IFP Spokesperson, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, says these campaigns help to stress-test their local government election campaign.

VIDEO | IFP holds a rally ahead of by-elections in Umzumbe, KZN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcnaNiRKYqw

Related News