LETTER: The IFP is not dying, the ANC is

Justice Malala’s column “The ANC’s (Slim) Survival Option” (At Home & Abroad, December 14-20) refers. Malala seems obsessed with an imaginary decline of the IFP; he cannot write about the ANC without mentioning his wish for that.

The IFP is not vulnerable or desperate for leaders; it is not about to close shop. It has Velenkosini Hlabisa as president, and many other senior and capable leaders such as Rev Musa Zondi. The IFP is not dying; it is the ANC that is losing support. Survey after survey points to a party beset by problems such as intraparty politics, one unable to disentangle itself from dirty politics. It is not renewable.

But what puzzles me most about Malala and many Freedom Charter adherents is that in witnessing a dying ANC, they are bitter and frustrated — they cannot imagine a South Africa without the ANC in power.

The death of the ANC will be a new start for South Africa. For this country to renew its energies, the ANC must lose power and die.

Muntonezwi Khanyile
Florida

The FM welcomes concise letters from readers. They can be sent to fmmail@fm.co.za