If the 2024 elections do not see a “reset, recharge and reboot”, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) risks becoming a failed province.

This is according to Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) KZN chairperson Thami Ntuli, who has accepted the nomination as the party’s Premier candidate in the province.

Ntuli, who was also mayor of the King Cetshwayo district municipality, said KZN stood at the brink of "an abyss".

“It is painful to see the province of KwaZulu-Natal crumble because of corruption, poor management and unethical leadership. We have seen deepening levels of poverty, despair, joblessness, lawlessness and many social ills. The very economic center of this province – eThekwini – has collapsed before our very own eyes. That shall come to an end,” he promised.

While Ntuli assured that the party’s plans ahead of the elections would be announced at the IFP’s manifesto launch in March, he outlined the IFP’s current standing in KZN as the opposition party, as well as its growth in the province owing to “people who are fed up with the current government”.

Ntuli expressed the IFP’s support for traditional leadership alongside self-help and self-care and added, “We shall make KwaZulu-Natal great again.”

Outlining his own credentials, Ntuli noted that as mayor of the King Cetshwayo district municipality and as former mayor of Nkandla, his focus had been on development, infrastructure and basic services, while prioritising issues relating to women and children and indigent households.

“I always put people first. The IFP has a track record known to anyone in this province. I am a person that believes in hard work. As the IFP’s Premier, I will leave no one behind. I will make sure that every citizen’s interests are taken care of,” he stated.

He urged voters in KZN to register at the upcoming voter registration weekend.

“I am proud to say that the IFP is the future. We are the party you can trust. We work for you. We will deliver on the revival, the recharge, the rescue, the hope that this province so desperately wants and needs. I pledge myself to be your humble servant as we start the process of rebuilding this province. We will do so to secure the future of our children, and to honour the legacy of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.” 

YOUTH ENDORSEMENT FOR NTULI

The IFP’s Youth Brigade national executive committee (IFPYB NEC) gave its support for Ntuli’s nomination, calling his leadership instrumental in "leading the province's structures to a successful election campaign”.

“The suffering and hardship endured by the people of KwaZulu-Natal cannot be ignored. It is for this reason that the IFPYB NEC will lend our full support to all the KZN Youth Brigade structures in the province, including our new Premier candidate, Cllr Ntuli, to offer meaningful alternatives to the challenges faced under the ANC administration,” the IFPYB NEC said.