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The announcement by IFP National Chairperson, Mrs Zanele Magwaza-Msibi, that
she has abandoned the IFP to form a new party is a political matter which
goes beyond my personal sadness, sense of betrayal and disappointment.

This political matter has different facets. First and foremost it highlights
once more how South African politics is moving away from values and ideas,
and from the methodology which inspired leaders such as Inkosi Albert
Luthuli, Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela and myself, to a methodology based on
power grabs for power's sake, centered around personality cults and
political prima donnae. The spilt in the IFP is not about policies and
values, but about personal ambition.

Another facet of this political phenomenon is the ruling Party attracting
within its fold all other components of black society, which spells the
demise of the democracy we fought for for so many generations.

The IFP has been tried and tested over many decades of struggle against
apartheid and confrontations with the ANC. We cannot be bought. We cannot be
bent. We cannot be swayed. We are preparing ourselves to exercise an even
more effective role, dare I say as true radicals in the protection and
promotion of democracy.

It is no surprise that this type of transformation of the IFP and the
effectiveness of the role we intend to play is undermined by what appears to
be a well-orchestrated plot. The new party was registered months ago and
there are plenty of indications that it received financial support from the
very political forces which the IFP's democratic vigilance intends to hold
accountable and keep under check and balance.