Mernat Mafirakurewa, AfricaNews reporter in Johannesburg, South Africa
South Africa president, Jacob Zuma plan to resume talks with rival Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) to convince its leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi to return "home."
The IFP was formed by Buthelezi — a former member of the ANC Youth League.
At the weekend Zuma said IFP was once an ANC project but things had not worked according to plan.
“The IFP was an ANC project, a way of mobilizing people when we were underground. This went wrong. But we are now above the ground and it is time for them to come home,” the Sunday Times quoted Zuma as saying.
The two parties used to have cordial relations but ever since Buthelezi started his own party clashes have been the order of the day amongst rival supporters. Responding to Zuma’s comments, IFP secretary-general Musa Zondi said it was too early to be considering any talks.
He said the talks the two parties were having were about how reconciliation could be brought between them. Zondi said there was “unfinished business” between the ANC and the IFP, which had resulted in the deaths of more than 20000 people since 1979.
Zondi said Zuma’s predecessors, Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, had tried to lure the IFP into merging with the ANC, but both attempts failed.
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