The 35th Inkatha Freedom Party National General Conference was held from 23 to 25 August 2019 to elect the new leadership of the

Inkatha Freedom Party The Inkatha Freedom Party ( zu, IQembu leNkatha yeNkululeko, IFP) is a right-wing political party in South Africa. The party has been led by Velenkosini Hlabisa since the party's 2019 National General Conference. Mangosuthu Buthelezi founded ...

(IFP). The previous elective conference was held in 2012. Party president Mangosuthu Buthelezi had announced his intention to retire after serving in the position for more than forty-four years. He was the party's inaugural president. It was understood that the party's IFP Extended National Council favoured the Leader of the Opposition in the

KwaZulu-Natal Legislature The KwaZulu-Natal Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. It is unicameral in its composition and elects the premier and the provincial cabinet from among the leading party or coalition members i ...

Velenkosini Hlabisa Velenkosini Fiki Hlabisa (born 4 January 1965) is a South African politician and former teacher who has been President of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Leader of the Opposition in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature since 2019. He served as t ...

, to succeed him as party president. Hlabisa was elected unopposed.

Events leading up to the conference

Mangosuthu Buthelezi established the party in March 1975 and had led it since its inception. In October 2017, the IFP Extended National Council started the process of selecting a new leader to succeed Buthelezi in the 2019 general elective conference. The council nominated

as its preferred leadership candidate. It was initially speculated that the party would nominate deputy party president, Inkosi Buthelezi, but Mangosuthu Buthelezi said that the council preferred to retain him in his post. Mangosuthu Buthelezi officially confirmed on 20 January 2019 that he would not seek re-election to another term as party president of the IFP. Following the May 2019 South African general election, the IFP increased its seat total in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

to 14 seats, a gain of four seats. The party managed to regain the title of the official opposition in the

after it lost it to the Democratic Alliance in 2014. The IFP confirmed that Buthelezi would remain parliamentary leader of the party in the National Assembly and that the elective conferences would proceed. Hlabisa was designated as Leader of the Opposition in the

, as he was the party's premier candidate for the 2019 elections. On 10 June 2019, the IFP officially set the dates for the party's elective conferences preceding the general elective conference in August 2019. The first of the conferences to be held were the provincial conferences. The party's KwaZulu-Natal branch elected Nkandla mayor Thamsanqa Ntuli as its new provincial chair. The election of Ntuli was seen as an apparent revolt to Buthelezi's succession plan. The IFP Youth Brigade held its elective conference from 13 to 14 July 2019, while the Women's Brigade held its conference from 27 to 28 July 2019.

New leadership elected

The IFP elective conference began on 23 August 2019. Buthelezi delivered his final speech as party president on 24 August 2019. The new leadership were announced on 25 August 2019 and is as follows:IFP elects Velenkosini Hlabisa as new leader after 44 years of Buthelezi
Retrieved on 25 August 2019. * President ⁠–

* Deputy President –

Inkosi Buthelezi Inkosi, otherwise appearing as Nkosi, is the Zulu and Xhosa for chieftain in Southern Africa. Inkosikazi is the equivalent term for a chieftess. An inkosi that has authority over several subordinate inkosis is traditionally referred to as an In ...

* Secretary-General –

Siphosethu Ngcobo Siphosethu Lindinkosi Ngcobo is a South African politician who has been serving as the Secretary-General of the Inkatha Freedom Party since August 2019. He was elected to the National Assembly of South Africa in May 2019. Ngcobo is a former presi ...

* Deputy Secretary-General –

Albert Mncwango Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

* National Chairperson –

MB Gwala MB, Mb or M. B. may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Mälarhöjden/Bredäng Hockey, a Swedish ice hockey club * Media Blasters, an American multimedia entertainment distributor * Mediobanca, and Italian company with Borsa Italiana sto ...

* Deputy National Chairperson – Thembinkosi Kamadlopha-Mthethwa * Treasurer-General –

Narend Singh Narend Singh (born 5 September 1954) is a South African politician who is the chief whip of the Inkatha Freedom Party in the National Assembly and the treasurer-general of the party. Prior to joining the National Assembly in 2007, he was a Member ...

References

{{Reflist 2019 conferences 2019 in politics 2019 in South Africa August 2019 events in South Africa Inkatha Freedom Party Political party assemblies Politics of South Africa