IFP remains confident ahead of election day

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) says it is gaining momentum ahead of Wednesday’s local government elections, with its sights set on retaining the municipalities it governs in KwaZulu-Natal and expanding its presence in other provinces.

Thousands of supporters are expected at the party’s Siyanqoba rally at the Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi Stadium in Ulundi, where party President Velenkosini Hlabisa will deliver his final campaign message.

The IFP Gauteng Provincial Chairperson, Bonginkosi Dhlamini, says they will prioritise the maintenance of ageing infrastructure, address water challenges and strengthen security.

He accused syndicates of deliberately sabotaging essential services to benefit from government tenders.

“The plan here is to make sure that we maintain and replace the old, ageing infrastructure because that is what is failing our people. It’s not that there’s no water. As much as we are a water-scarce country, we must maintain our infrastructure. Our infrastructure has been neglected. Secondly, we must make sure that we really bring order and security to our country because there are people who are deliberately vandalising our infrastructure because they want to get tenders to fix water or to supply water tankers. Therefore, we must also deal with those issues. Maintenance and making sure that we secure our infrastructure by working with our communities to make sure that they are part of it. The infrastructure is not the government’s property.”

He says, “It’s their property; it’s their community. So, we must work together to make sure that we protect our infrastructure and make sure that we don’t vandalise our infrastructure. And those who are hell-bent on sabotaging South Africa, because they’re not only sabotaging a ruling party or a governing party or whatever. They are sabotaging our country itself. Therefore, we must deal head-on with the syndicates that are hell-bent on destroying infrastructure because, on the eve of elections, why is the whole country now facing a problem of either electricity or water?”

IFP National Executive Committee member Mntomuhle Khawula says the campaign season has been good for the IFP.

He says, “We are upbeat. We felt like we were not having any opponents on the field. It’s been all systems go throughout KwaZulu-Natal. The objective is to retain all the municipalities that we are controlling and then add other municipalities, and we think we are moving towards that direction. When we started the campaign, the president gave us marching orders. He told us that we are running a race, and when you run a marathon, you don’t use the same pace throughout. Today the president is going to give us the last marching orders for the last lap of the race. And we’re upbeat about Wednesday”.

X | @SABCNews | IN PICTURES | Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) supporters gather at Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi Stadium in Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal, for the Siyanqoba rally to wrap up the 2026 local elections campaign. Visit https://t.co/Jm2zGCkDHs for more

Credit: Zanele Buthelezi https://t.co/ii3XltTRJq

— SABC News (@SABCNews) November 1, 2026

WATCH | LGE 2026 | Hlabisa to lead IFP’s Siyanqoba Rally in KZN |