A former IFP member of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature has called for the party to merge with the ANC.

In a letter to Inkatha Freedom Party leader Dr Mangosuthu Buthelezi this week, Kamal Panday said there would always be problems as long as the two parties remained separate entities.

"It is my humble opinion, having served the IFP for 15 years and after studying the similarities and differences between the IFP and the ANC, the two parties could either merge or have a close working arrangement," the letter read.

ANC president Jacob Zuma also called for the two parties to merge.

Addressing hundreds of ANC members attending a provincial general council at University of KwaZulu-Natal's Westville Campus in July, Zuma said he would resume talks with Buthelezi about combining the two parties.

Zuma said IFP had been formed in the 1970s to mobilise people when the ANC was banned. The IFP had to come back home because the ANC was now unbanned, Zuma said.

Panday, a member of the provincial legislature between 1999 and 2004, has resigned from the IFP.

"This is a decision I have not taken lightly, but because I believe that the party has lost its direction, and its leadership appears to be at a loss as to how it should handle crises."

He said the latest developments in the party had shown senior members were only interested in positions.

"IFP leaders do not know how to choose people. They don't have the intelligence to do that. They just pick up people who have no passion and skills to serve people."

The party's failure to pick good local, provincial and national government candidates had led to the IFP's dwindling support.

"The IFP was a strong party, but over the last few years it is on the downward spiral. At this rate I fear that the IFP will be of no force and effect to change the political landscape in this country."

He said selfish members in the IFP were to blame for the party's poor showing during recent elections.

Panday, a member of the now-defunct House of Delegates between 1989 and 1994, said he was considering joining the ruling party.

The IFP's Mntomuhle Khawula said his party was not surprised by Panday's resignation.

"During the 2004 floor crossing, we had to keep him somewhere to prevent him from jumping into the ANC," he said.

He described Panday as a person who was power hungry, saying that he was bitter because he was not returned to the legislature after the elections this year.