SUMMARY
The supporters of IFP (Inkatha Freedom Party) were loosely organised groups of individuals who were members of IFP, or supported IFP’s ideology. The Inkatha Freedom Partys (IFP) forerunner (simply called "Inkatha") was established as a cultural movement already in 1928, to raise public support for the ancient Zulu monarchy. This preceding organisation died out in the 1930s, only to be reformed in 1975 by Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi with the stated goals of liberating South Africa from white domination and discrimination and creating a base for the cause of Zulu self-determination. Originally called the Inkatha National Cultural Liberation Movement the group took the name Inkatha Freedom Party in 1990, signifying the political character of its goals.
Buthelezi, a descendant of the Zulu monarchy, was also chief minister of the KwaZulu homeland administration, one of the self-governing entities set up by the apartheid system. In contrast to the most prominent black liberation movement, the ANC (African National Congress), the IFP had a regional and tribal focus on its traditional territories in and around the Natal province where the Zulu tribe was concentrated. It is important to note, however, that the party is not composed only of ethnic Zulus.
The IFP grew throughout the 1980s to become the ANCs chief political rival, to some extent based on the sheer number of people that supported it (decreasing electoral support for the ANC), but also since it at times aligned itself with rightist parties and was a basically conservative and traditional party, as opposed to the ANCs socialist and liberal alignments. This caused not only tensions on a national level, on the local level this led to many violent clashes between supporters of the ANC and IFP.
The supporters of IFP gathered usually in an ad-hoc manner. Often they were tied to the place where they lived, for instance a workers-hostel or part of a township. Youth leaders or regional leaders led them. Many IFP members were forced to sign up by rural chiefs or at rallies. Though not formally aligned to the security services of the South African apartheid government it has later been shown that the IFP gained significantly in political strength through the tacit complicity and collusion of the police and the intelligence apparatus of the state. This was especially so in the sphere of violence against UDF (United Democratic Front) and ANC activists and supporters. In these violent confrontations the IFP made use of relatively unorganised militias, sometimes referred to as amabutho or impis, terms initially used for the military regiments of the old Zulu kingdom. These loosely organised groups of people would storm ANC or UDF stronghold and attack. The South African police and military often did not do anything to prevent this, or even supported and participated in these attacks.
Since its inception the IFP has been controlled by its founder, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the head of the powerful Buthelezi clan of the Zulus. He can however not be held responsible for all violence on the local level, on the contrary, often he urged for calm. Youth and local leaders led the violence at the local level. Often there was a large discrepancy between the philosophy of the national leaders and the actions carried out on the local level.
The supporters of the IFP have been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.
