By Celani Sikhakhane
- Inkatha Freedom Party leader Velenkosini Hlabisa welcomed Dr Bongani Mncwango to the party at its Durban head office on Wednesday.
- Jacob Zuma fired Dr Bongani Mncwango as the uMkhonto weSizwe Party secretary general in Durban during the month of March.
Former uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) secretary general Dr Bongani Mncwango has joined the IFP.
IFP leader Velenkosini Hlabisa welcomed him at the party’s head office in Durban on Wednesday.
Mncwango left the MKP after party leader Jacob Zuma removed him from his job on 12 March. This happened during a party briefing in Durban.
Mncwango had taken over from Floyd Shivambu in August 2025. Member of Parliament Sibonelo Nomvalo has now replaced Mncwango as the new MKP secretary general.
Mncwango is the latest in a line of secretary generals to leave the MKP since the party started.
The first was Thanduxolo Gorbachev Dyodo, who went back to the ANC. Dr Sfiso Maseko was removed and went back to the government. Shivambu was fired and started his own party.
Hlabisa said Mncwango brings a lot of experience from the business world to his new political home.
Mncwango previously worked as the chief executive officer of Sanlam Healthcare and Netcare 911. He was also the managing director of Bonitas Medical Fund Administration.
“His expertise and strategic insight will significantly strengthen the IFP as we intensify our mobilisation efforts ahead of the upcoming Local Government Elections,” Hlabisa said.
The IFP leader said Mncwango choosing to join them shows that people trust the party to lead well and do the right thing.
“Across the country, South Africans from diverse political backgrounds are choosing the IFP because they recognise in us a party rooted in integrity, constitutionalism, and ethical leadership,” he said.
He said the country is facing a hard time politically.
“At a time of deep political uncertainty, the IFP stands firm as a beacon of stability, unity, and good governance,” Hlabisa said.
Pictured above: Dr Bongani Mncwango.
Image source: MKP
