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The Inkatha Freedom Party accuses the ANC of excluding opposition parties from an event that should include all parties represented in the KZN Legislature by sending out invitations late and well past the rsvp date.

“As opposition parties we were excluded from the planning of the Provincial march for violence against women and children scheduled to take place this coming Friday, 14 July. We are very perturbed that the invitation from the Office of the Premier which required a response by 08 July was only received by the IFP on 11 July.

It is often the modus operandi of the ANC to inform opposition parties late so that we do not have time to prepare ourselves and attend such state sponsored events. As an opposition party in the Legislature, we were not part of the planning process.

Either the Premier or the ANC Provincial Chairperson, Mr Sihle Zikalala who has on many occasions excluded opposition parties from such events and then attacked them on public platforms for failing to attend, must take responsibility for such blatant abuse of authority. There is certainly a deviation from what previous Premiers did when all opposition parties were included in the planning processes of such important events.

This is also evident in the so called Sukuma Sakhe Programme where only ANC MEC’s are involved in an ANC mobilisation campaigns under the banner that it’s a government event and opposition parties are excluded. We are not shocked by this tendency of arrogance, disrespect and self-aggrandisement on the part of the Sihle Zikalala,” said IFP Leader in the KZN Legislature, Mr Blessed Gwala MPL.

“The ANC is extremely arrogant and it is for that reason that most political parties refuse to work with its members. It does not know the meaning of co-operation.

It antagonises opposition parties and is therefore reviled in return. It will meet its comeuppance soon. The IFP denounces the contemptuous writing off of opposition parties by Sihle Zikalala. We have a right to exist and small though we may be, our voice is loud and clear in serving our people and the country at large,” continued Mr Gwala.

“This late invitation is not for a private event either at the Premier’s or Sihle Zikalala’s house. This is an event that is intended for all parties in the Legislature. He treats us like children. It is a well-known fact that the African National Congress is caught in a vortex of arrogance, pride and fear from which it is unable to escape.

By sending out the invitation late, the ANC only wants to cover its back to say that all parties were invited. Such shenanigans are a clear indication of the two centres of power that exists in KZN. We want to state it clearly that we will not be used as Sihle Zikalala’s toys. We deserve respect,” concluded Mr Gwala.

Issued by IFP