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Inkatha Freedom Party blames the KwaZulu-Natal Independent Electoral
Commission for the burning down of the University of Zululand on
Tuesday. The university was burnt down by a mob of students following
the proposal by the management for the formation of an interim
multi-party structure that would run the affairs of students after the
impasse around SRC elections; which was rejected by the ANC-aligned
SASCO. The Provincial Secretary of the IFP, Dr Bonginkosi Buthelezi
said:

"First we wish to register our total abhorrence of the vandalism
displayed by the students who burnt down parts of the University of
Zululand on Tuesday. This shows that, as a country, we have no future
when such barbaric acts could be done in an institution supposed to be
the training ground for future leaders.

"However, our view is that the KwaZulu-Natal IEC must shoulder part of
the blame for this shameful act. Because, after the IEC decided to debar
SADESMO from contesting the SRC elections on the grounds that SADESMO
had submitted their candidate-list after the stipulated time, SADESMO
approached them (IEC) with a legally-sound argument which showed that
the IEC was wrong in their decision. Instead, the IEC contemptuously
ignored that advice and did not even care to acknowledge our letter.
They went ahead to declare SASCO as winners thus handing them the SRC on
a platter. SADESMO then went ahead to lodge a formal objection with the
IEC's Head Office. And it was after the intervention of the IEC Head
Office that the local IEC came to their senses. But the damage had bee
done because they had already pronounced SASCO as the winners.

"Had the KZN IEC listened to our voice of reason and accepted SADESMO's
list, elections would have proceeded and vandals would not have had the
reason to burn the university. This incident adds to the concerns we
have concerning the KZN IEC's conduct when it comes to elections. We
only hope that they will learn from this unfortunate incident. "