Durban - The National Freedom Party (NFP) in Parliament says there is no leadership dispute in the party.
NFP leader in Parliament Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam said in a statement on Thursday: “The National Freedom Party in Parliament registers utter disgust and grave concern regarding the statements circulating in the media, which purports that there is a leadership dispute within the NFP.”
In a story on Wednesday, The Mercury reported that NFP interim committee convener Canaan Mdletshe had said that leadership squabbles were affecting the party. He was commenting after the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) confirmed it had frozen the party’s funding.
Shaik Emam said Mdletshe was not the party’s secretary-general nor spokesperson, and that the media should speak to those who have been “legally appointed to their respective positions”.
He added that the decision of the IEC to withhold funds from the NFP was not breaking news, and was something the party had been aware of for the past six months.
“It is also critical to highlight that the withholding of funds is not a result of lack of accountability, but rather an internal factional dispute caused by disgruntled members,” said Shaik Emam.
“These disgruntled members have created the false impression that there exists a leadership dispute within the NEC (National Executive Committee). However, we can confirm unequivocally that there is no leadership dispute.”
He said the party’s current leadership, in the form of the Interim National Executive Committee (INEC), was instituted prior to the death of party leader Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi.
“The formation of the INEC was made an order of the court, and represented members of two different factions which were in dispute concerning matters within the party.”
He said two members of one of the factions had attempted to wrest power away from the legally constituted leadership body in a series of activities which had led to the action taken by the IEC.
“Their dispute has no merit or substance, for several reasons. Firstly, they have over the past four years participated in numerous INEC meetings. They have publicly articulated their support for the INEC.
“It is important to note that these disputes only arose after disciplinary action was instituted against them,” Shaik Emam said.
“Furthermore, we would like to re-assure our members that this matter is being swiftly addressed by the INEC, and will be resolved in due course,” he said.