The IFP said Zandile Gumede’s appointment was irrational given that she is implicated in a tender fraud case amounting over R400 million.
Zandile Gumede (left) is sworn in as a member of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature on 19 August 2020. KZN Legislature Speaker Nontembeko Boyce looks on. Picture: Supplied
DURBAN – The African National Congress (ANC) on Tuesday lashed out at the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), which is planning to take it to court to challenge Zandile Gumede’s appointment to the KwaZulu-Natal legislature.
The IFP said that Gumede’s appointment as a Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL) was irrational given that she was implicated in a tender fraud case amounting to over R400 million.
ANC KZN secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli accused the IFP of being opportunistic and hypocritical by using the ANC’s challenges for political gain.
Ntuli said that the IFP should focus on resolving governance issues at municipalities run by the party before attacking the ANC.
“The municipalities that are collapsing in the north are as a result of the IFP. The IFP has collapsed Mtubatuba Local Municipality, they’ve changed the mayor three [or] four times there. There is no change, no progress, nothing whatsoever,” Ntuli said.
Ntuli said that the IFP, which was the official opposition in KZN, had ambitions to win the province, but grandstanding against the ANC would not assist party president Velenkosini Hlabisa.
“If I were him, I was going to pay more attention to the challenges of the very few municipalities that the IFP is governing. You need to excel in the little you have to be trusted to lead the bigger province of KZN,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ANC said it was still finalising its decision on Gumede’s political future following her appearance before the provincial integrity commission.