Inkatha Freedom Party

The Inkatha Freedom Party ( IFP) is a political party in South Africa.

It was founded in 1975 by Mangosuthu Buthelezi and is still run by him. The Zulu leader Buthelezi used for establishing the structures of a cultural organization of the Zulu that existed since the 1920s. The party was formed in KwaZulu- Homeland. Even today, members of the party are mostly Zulu, even if the party is open to people of all ethnic groups.

The Inkatha Freedom Party sees itself as an anti-Communist and as a counterparty to the African National Congress ( ANC). During the apartheid era, she was looking for other than the ANC selective cooperation with the white government.

The conflicting positions of the ANC and Inkatha in particular, led from 1989 to mutual assaults and fights both sides. The following unrest cost about 7,000 lives. Only when Nelson Mandela in 1994 succeeded to integrate Buthelezi in the new government stopped the riots.

Election results

From 1994 to 2004, the Inkatha was the third strongest party in each case and also involved in the government. In the province of KwaZulu -Natal from 1994 to 2004 she presented the prime minister. In the national election 2009, she lost a lot of votes and was 4.55 % of the vote, only fourth-strongest force behind the newly formed ANC elimination Congress of the People.