The storm that has hit the NFP in its base, Nongoma, is raising questions as to whether there is a new man in this group that defected from the IFP in 2011.
The results of the by-elections held in Nongoma Municipality should worry the NFP leaders who are suddenly mired in internal conflicts.
The NFP went to Wednesday’s election beset by problems in Hlalankosi following the removal of the party’s councillors. It ended up third in this election, receiving 192 votes.
The NFP is far behind the IFP who won the election with 1,113 votes. The NFP has a history in this ward, as it won in 2021 even though its representative in the election, Mr. Dumisani Qwabe, was no more. Qwabe was nominated as the election approached.
Then there was a by-election, and the NFP won again in a landslide.
In the 2022 by-election, the NFP won with 44.85%.
Wednesday’s results have raised questions as to where these people who voted for the NFP in 2021 and 2022 have gone.
This group has recently been plagued by chaos that raises doubts about whether it will bring anything back in the upcoming local government elections.
Nongoma area is the lifeline of NFP. This is where it picked up the most votes for the 2021 local government elections.
This group founded by Mrs. Zanele Magwaza-Msibi had 14 councillors.
In fact, most of the NFP votes in 2021 came from the Zululand region. Other votes came from the Dumbe Municipality, which is the only municipality that manages it in KwaZulu-Natal.
In the Lundi Municipality, the NFP tried as it has seven councillors.
Even when the NFP started running for elections in 2011, it did wonders in Zululand. It won the district municipality and the Nongoma and Dumbe municipalities.
If you are going to look at the results of the 2021 election, the NFP was almost shut down if you don’t count the votes it received from the municipalities under the Zululand region.
The NFP returned empty handed to more than 30 municipalities.
This organization entered blindly in less than ten municipalities, where they have individual councillors. These results clearly show the importance of Hlalankosi and the Zululand region in the life of the NFP.
There is no doubt that although the NFP won a seat in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature in the 2024 election, it is because of the votes from the Zululand region.
But these days there is a lot of fighting in the NFP in Nongoma and in the Zululand region in general. Five NFP councilors recently resigned from Nongoma. Last week, two councilors resigned.
The former mayors, Mr Mshangane Ndabandaba and Mr Kaiser Dladla, resigned in one day. Ndabandaba and Dladla didn’t waste time, they joined MKP last week.
As soon as these leaders resigned, the NFP was still licking its wounds in Nongoma following the resignation of three councillors, including the ward 17 councillor.
There will still be by-elections in wards 7 and 20 where councilors have resigned. This change brought to light the internal war in the NFP that has been secretly pushing each other.
The existing leadership first disbanded the leadership structures in the Zululand region. They have repeatedly tried to fire councilors including Ndabandaba and the mayor of Dumbe Municipality, Mr. Sibusiso Mkhabela.
Before Ndabandaba resigned, the group was planning to remove him from being a member of the executive committee in Nongoma Municipality.
There is a book seen byOf this countrywhen the interim leadership of NFP in Nongoma suggested that Mr. Simphiwe Gazu enter.
The battles in NFP are not only in Nongoma. The group once tried to fire the Deputy Mayor of Durban Municipality, Ms. Zandile Myeni.
These days the Minister of Community Development, Ms Mbali Shinga, is sitting on one side in the Legislative Assembly.
Ms Shinga was recently summoned before the disciplinary committee.
He is accused of ignoring the party’s order to support the motion of no confidence in the leadership of the Prime Minister of KwaZulu-Natal, Mr. Thami Ntuli.
History of NFP if there is an election
The NFP came to light at the time of the 2021 local government elections.
It was the first time that it ran for election but it turned out to be a failure as there was no party that had won by a landslide in many municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal.
The NFP decided to cooperate with the ANC in 19 municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal.
After the election, the NFP managed the municipalities that are important to the IFP, Zululand and Nongoma District Municipality.
In the 2014 national elections, the NFP won six seats in Parliament.
The leader of the party, Mrs Zanele Magwaza-Msibi, was appointed to the position of Deputy Minister of Science.
In the 2016 local government elections, the NFP suffered a disaster as it could not run for election due to failure to pay the entry fee on time.
In the 2019 national election, the party won two seats in Parliament and in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislative Assembly.
In the 2021 local government elections, the NFP won only the Dumbe Municipality.
In the 2024 national election, the NFP won one seat in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislative Assembly, but did not win anything in Parliament.