The veteran leader of the IFP, Mr. Blessed Gwala, condemns the competition for positions in the party.
Gwala said the power struggle is against the teachings of the founder of the IFP, King Mangosuthu of Mathole Buthelezi.
He said this while speaking at the memorial service for King Mhloleni Mthiyane. The commemoration of King KwaSokhulu was held in Mfolozi, on Sunday.
Gwala has been in the senior leadership of the IFP for many years.
He said that he has never once campaigned for positions in the IFP, and that when he was appointed to the Legislative Assembly for the first time, he was nominated by the King of KwaSokhulu and the King of KwaBiyela.
“There are those who don’t know that I have been a member of the IFP for fifty years. And those who don’t know that I went to Parliament at the age of 37. In these 37 years, you will not believe that the two kings who supported me have 24 teeth. I have 36 teeth now. Men were fighting, men with clothes and white hair were fighting. They said we don’t want them because they are fighting, we want this child. As much as I am, I have never campaigned for myself. No one here can raise a hand. He said that I once came to him while campaigning for office.
“I was taught by the Prince of Kwa Phindangene that you have to hunt for the position of campaigning like a dog. It should be the people who raise you. This thing of hearing that people are fighting each other in the hall, is not the teaching of the IFP. You can be elected to a position because you went to the moon but the position will deny you because you were not created for it.”
Gwala said that during the last election, he did not even know that his name was nominated to be a member of the Legislative Assembly.
“I was campaigning for the party in Limpopo and North West. I heard that I was being called and was told that I would not sign.”
Gwala praised the contributions of King KwaSokhulu to the IFP.
“Some kings say they are in the middle. The country of Prussia (Germany) ended like that because there was a king. Then when a group that did not agree with the monarchy came in, they ended the monarchy like that. Even now, Prussia will not be found in history.”
The reigning king of KwaSokhulu, Phineus Mthiyane, said they were happy to commemorate the contributions of the late king.
“He was a major member of the IFP, and we see that he would have made a mistake if he left him out of its plans. Today his plan is to celebrate him and my mother. We appreciate what the IFP has done. We can see that the king was not lost if he was in this group, we can see the result.”