IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi has conceded that his party is cash-strapped and described its financial status as "unfortunate".

IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi has conceded that his party is cash-strapped and described its financial status as "unfortunate".

The IFP took a huge blow in the May 18 municipal elections, losing many wards and councils. Before the elections, the IFP controlled 32 of KwaZulu-Natal's 61 municipalities. It now has only two.

"The task ahead is made more difficult by the handicap we suffer in the IFP of being a cash-strapped party. There are not enough resources for us to accomplish all that we envision, and often our good ideas cannot be implemented for lack of finances," he told delegates to the national elective conference of the SA Democratic Students Movement, at Umlazi's Mangosuthu University of Technology on Saturday.

The IFP reportedly began retrenching staff last month to cut costs.

The party is said to be selling assets as it closes some of its regional offices. Administration head Otto Kunene said that was the "norm in any organisation".

Buthelezi challenged the IFP-aligned student movement to get high-school pupils to join the party to bolster its election chances and its coffers.

"If we are to build up our support base once again we will need to find creative ways of commanding attention and making our message heard," he said.

The party, he said, had to tap into pupils who would be 18 in 2014.

The movement had "gained ground in many tertiary institutions but we have made no inroads at high schools".

"This is a mistake. We need to take full advantage of students' organisations, linking up with them and promoting the IFP's message of strong opposition to all that is wrong in the present system."

Buthelezi said potential voters were aware of the challenges they faced on leaving school, including high unemployment.

The IFP offered the young a political home that expressed their passion, patriotism and concerns, said Buthelezi.