Post-Apartheid Politics
After the dismantling of apartheid system in 1994, the IFP formed an uneasy coalition in KwaZulu-Natal with their traditional political rival, the ANC. This coalition was to last until 2004, when the IFP joined the Democratic Alliance, the major opposition party/coalition to the then-dominant ANC.
The ANC/IFP rivalry, characterised by sporadic acts of political violence, has been firm since 1993. In 2004, while campaigning in Vulindlela, an IFP bastion in the Pietermaritzburg Midlands region, Thabo Mbeki was reportedly debarred by an IFP-affiliated traditional leader in Mafunze. Previously the stronghold of Moses Mabhida, this area has long been the site of heated clashes between the parties.
The IFP's manifesto seeks the resolution to a number of South African issues, especially the AIDS crisis, in addition to addressing "unemployment, crime, poverty and corruption and prevent the consolidation of a one-party state" (IFP official website). The "prevention of a one-party state" is with regards to the ruling ANC, which is perceived by many as making efforts to undemocratically consolidate power for their own party. The IFP also states that "Our proposals are designed to give people control over their lives: a hand up, not a hand down. Social justice for all. We also have the political will to deal effectively with these problems."
Read more about this topic: Inkatha Freedom Party
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“We are naïve and moralistic women. We are human beings. Who find politics a blight upon the human condition. And do not know how one copes with it except through politics.”
—Kate Millett (b. 1934)