[6] Leader of the IFP, Velenkosini Hlabisa, became Minister of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) in the coalition.

[7] Policy proposals of the IFP include: In 2018, the party issued an official statement, penned by MP, Narend Singh, stating that the time had come to discuss the possibility of reinstating the death penalty in South Africa.

[10] Ideologically, the party has been positioned on the right-wing of the spectrum, although on its platform the IFP places itself in the political centre ground, stating it rejects "both centralised socialism, as well as harsh anything goes liberalism."

The party supports strong law & order policies, in particular calling for harsher penalties for people who commit violence against women and children.

[12] Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a former member of the ANC Youth League, founded the Inkatha National Cultural Liberation Movement (INCLM) on 21 March 1975.

His tribal loyalties and focus on ethnic interests over national unity were also criticised as contributing to the divisive programme of Inkatha.

[18] Although Inkatha was allied with the African National Congress in the struggle against apartheid, they took opposing views on sanctions placed by the international community on South Africa.

In 1984, Buthelezi travelled to the USA and met personally with President Ronald Reagan and argued divestment was economically harming black South African workers.

Both Inkatha and the ANC attempted to campaign in each other's KwaZulu-Natal strongholds, and were met with resistance, sometimes violent, by members of the opposing party.

[17] After the dismantling of apartheid system in 1994, the IFP formed an uneasy coalition in the national government with their traditional political rival, the ANC.

In 2004, while campaigning in Vulindlela, an IFP bastion in the Pietermaritzburg Midlands region, Thabo Mbeki was reportedly debarred by an IFP-affiliated traditional leader in Mafunze.

[24][full citation needed] The IFP's manifesto seeks the resolution to a number of South African issues, especially the AIDS crisis, in addition to addressing "unemployment, crime, poverty and corruption and prevent the consolidation of a one-party state;"[25] said "party" is implied to be the ANC.

In it, he said that the IFP "has no discernible vision, mission or philosophical base, no clear national ambitions or direction, no articulated ideological basis and offers little in the way of current, vibrant original and relevant policies".

Senior IFP politician Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi wanted Buthelezi to step down and had supporters advocating for her to take over the party's leadership.

[37] The party managed to retain control of the Nkandla Local Municipality, the residence of former ANC president Jacob Zuma.

[43][44] Ntuli's election as premier was seen as a setback for the influence of Jacob Zuma, who by now had defected from the ANC to lead the KwaZulu-Natal based uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party.

[45][44] Ntuli defeated Zulu Nation deputy prime minister and MK party candidate Phathisizwe Chiliza with 41 votes to 39.