The IFP, on the other hand, is proving to be the comeback kid. After controlling the province outright after the 1994 election, it lost control to the ANC a decade later. Narend Singh, chair of the IFP’s national campaigns committee, attributes this to its decision to enter into coalitions with the ANC in some areas.
“In hindsight, one of the errors we made was letting the ANC have MEC positions,” he tells the FM. “Coalitions can be dangerous — we were being destroyed from the inside; many of our own began colluding with the ANC.”