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Date : 29/03/2004
Source: Inkatha Freedom Party
Title: MButhelezi: Launch of the KZN growth and development plan


Today I am unveiling the Inkatha Freedom Party's Growth and Development Plan for KwaZulu-Natal. The Growth and Development Plan is a specially tailored version of our national manifesto, 'Real Development Now', for the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Like our national manifesto, the Growth and Development Plan is short on spin, rich in policy. Our approach is action and programme driven. We are not here to play the politics of promises. We are here to commit ourselves to actions as the next government of KwaZulu Natal. The IFP government of KwaZulu Natal in the years 2004 and beyond will be based on actions. This is not a promise. It is a fact in the making.

The IFP is ambitious for KwaZulu-Natal. We believe that with the right plan and team, KwaZulu-Natal can be South Africa's most prosperous and happening province. I laugh when I hear people saying that KwaZulu Natal must be liberated by the ANC. KwaZulu Natal is the leading province of South Africa. We have the most advanced plans and programmes in agriculture, rural development, trade and industrial promotion, housing, education and many other fields.

We have achieved enormous progress ahead of many other provinces, in spite of the fact that the IFP-led government of this Province has been undermined and frustrated by the ANC, at every turn and corner. The ANC has not been committed to the success of the government of this Province, but to its failure, and in spite of this we have succeeded. We shall bring this success into the next five years, but we need greater power and more support to finish better and without further interferences with what we have begun. The ANC should be concerned about liberating the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape from their disastrous administration, and should leave KwaZulu Natal alone to be run from success to success by the competent, efficient, clean and productive IFP government.

This province literally fizzles with potential and vitality. Our wonderfully diverse peoples; a glorious smorgasbord of cultures and traditions; international cities with first-class infrastructure and magnificent deep-sea ports; an abundance of natural resources and fertile land; two World Heritage Sites; year round sunshine and a desirable location, adds up to a world-class destination and investment haven. In so many ways KwaZulu-Natal, as the nation's most populous province, is like South Africa in miniature. Success in this province would provide a template and paradigm of development for the rest of South Africa.

There is something special about this Province which, however, does not come out of the blue. It is the fruit of 25 years of my hard work and patient progress on the part of social harmony and reconciliation. No other Province can replicate this overnight. In this province we began coming together across the then deeply divided racial lines in the late 70's. In 1980 we came together in the Buthelezi Commission, which set the basis for the KwaZulu Natal Indaba of 1986 in which the representatives of the people of this Province came together to work together, oblivious of the different colour pigmentation of our skins or our cultural differences. These joint efforts were in total defiance of both the laws and the culture of apartheid, and yet they were so compelling that they allowed Pretoria to be unable to stop the formation of the KwaZulu Natal Joint Executive Authority, which was the first interracial government of South Africa, almost a decade ahead of our final liberation.

In this Province, because of Inkatha, we never saw anyone as an enemy. We worked as people of KwaZulu Natal, for the benefit of the people of KwaZulu Natal. The end product is that KwaZulu Natal is today the most cosmopolitan and racially harmonious Province of South Africa. We shall build the economic prosperity and social stability of this Province on this strong foundation. The IFP provincial government will draw upon the two main assets of the province: our diversity and the talents of our people to drive our vision. With the people of KwaZulu-Natal, we will work to make the province an arena of ambition and opportunity for all.

In the 1999 election, the IFP did not achieve an overall majority and had to form a coalition government with the ANC. Unfortunately, the ANC-IFP agreement unravelled when the ANC tried to subvert democracy, by trying to take over the province by the immoral floor-crossing legislation. They failed. With other opposition parties, the IFP challenged the legislation at the Constitutional Court. The majesty of democracy prevailed at the end of the day, but was then defeated and warped when the ANC tampered with the Constitution and amended it to allow floor-crossing. Today, all that stands between the consolidation of a one-party-state by the ANC is that KwaZulu-Natal is governed by an IFP-led administration. That is a tribute to the independent minded and brave people of KwaZulu-Natal, which is one of the special and enduring qualities of the peoples of this Province.

The circumstances, however, in which we have had to work, has meant that the IFP was unable to fully implement our programme for government. And, of course, compromise is inevitably part and parcel of coalition government. The IFP believes that the people of KwaZulu-Natal deserve the best. The province needs joined-up - not disjointed - government. KwaZulu-Natal needs the right team and approach. It is time for the IFP to have the opportunity to serve. We joined hands with the DA because we are like minded parties. It was a coalition of the willing to work for the people of the Province. This coalition began in 1999 at the local government level where it proved its worth, efficiency and benefits for the people of this Province. However, the roots of this coalition go deep into the history of this Province when a great number of leaders, who are now in the DA, were with us in the Buthelezi Commission and the KwaZulu Natal Indaba.

The DA has been committed to the success of the KwaZulu Natal Government, and not to its failure. It has been a trusted partner who has worked closely with the Premier to provide this Province with its best possible government. The whole of South Africa benefits from the great and productive competition which is now available to the people of KwaZulu Natal. The agreement we signed with the DA is a commitment to govern together, wherever the number allows us to do so. An IFP-DA government could save the whole of South Africa from crucial problems such as HIV/AIDS, crime, unemployment, poverty and corruption.

The Growth and Development plan is a detailed plan of action that contains IFP common sense proposals across the spectrum of governance, that would put KwaZulu-Natal on the road to success and prosperity. They dovetail with many policies in which the IFP and the DA see eye to eye. The Office of the Premier in the new administration, will ensure that KwaZulu-Natal is governed in a joined-up manner, with one vision. The existing situation of fragmented government activity will not be tolerated any longer. The Premier will personally set the priorities and objectives of each department, in line with the overall strategy of the administration and ensure that each department is focused on accelerated delivery of services to the people. As Harry Truman famously said, "the buck stops here."
The Office of the Premier will take the lead role in working to create the framework to make KwaZulu-Natal an economic powerhouse, and a haven for direct foreign investment. I subscribe to the old saying 'a rising tide lifts all boats.' Our success on the economy will determine our success in every other sphere of governance. The IFP administration will be business friendly. The IFP believes that business people know more about business than political parties. The Premier will interact with the business community at every opportunity, to make KwaZulu-Natal a business friendly province and a haven for investment.

As you will know, I have been advocating at the national level for the last ten years and before that, when I was Chief Minister of the erstwhile KwaZulu government, of the need to liberalise our economy like the Asian Tiger economies did from the ninety-fifties onwards. South Africa is a country rich in resources, but its most precious resource is human capital. One of the paradoxes of the post-war global economy is that countries that have achieved high levels of economic growth, have often been those lacking in natural resources, but have invested massively in the development of their human resources. Singapore and Taiwan provide obvious examples. The Office of the Premier in the new administration will commission an "Asian Tiger" economies developmental study, to identify in practical terms how the five Asian Tigers, and other developing countries such as India and Malaysia, achieved accelerated double-digit economic growth in their developmental phase.

Our vision is big. We want to place KwaZulu-Natal on the fast track of economic development. There is no reason why KwaZulu-Natal with its comparative advantages of an abundance of water, excellent road, rail and port infrastructure, cannot be a powerhouse economy within South Africa, in the way that, for example, California is in the USA. The IFP provincial government will ensure that the provincial budget is used to stimulate economic growth and use the benefits of such growth to cut through the structural conditions, that produce large-scale poverty. We will promote broad-based economic empowerment through government and ensure that it benefits the many, not just an enriched elite few.

At present over 60% of formal modern economic activity is concentrated largely in the Durban-Pinetown-Pietermaritzburg corridor, which means that most of the province's economic potential remains untapped. We will change that. The IFP provincial government will promote the development of cities and towns, such as Pietermartizburg, Ulundi, Ladysmith, Newcastle, Vryheid, Pongola and Port Shepstone, as industrial development nodes. Working with the Ithala Development Corporation and private and public enterprise, and directly linking in with the local municipalities Integrated Development Plan's, we will build new factories in these locations and set the conditions to make them an attractive destination for investment.

The IFP provincial government will continue to champion small and medium-sized enterprises, as a sector which has the greatest potential for growth. South Africa as a whole, captures less of the international tourist trade than the tiny city-state of Singapore. Tourism is a vast source of potential revenue and job creation in KwaZulu-Natal. The IFP provincial government will develop a bold and exciting integrated tourist marketing strategy, with Durban branded as the Gateway City to the region, and we will fast track the construction of the King Shaka International Airport to enhance Durban's position as a major global city.

It is time for a new approach. Innovative. Bold. Visionary. It is time for the IFP. KwaZulu-Natal is a youthful province with over 60% of its population under thirty-years-old. Poor socio-economic conditions, combined with the difficulties of living in a transforming society, have increased young people's vulnerability in this province to substance and alcohol abuse, suicide, unplanned pregnancies, physical and sexual abuse. The IFP believes that young people themselves must be the protagonists of their development. The IFP provincial government will ensure that there is adequate budgetary allocation to the KwaZulu Natal Youth Commission for youth development programmes.

Modelled on Kennedy's successful visionary Peace Corp in America, we will establish a KwaZulu-Natal Youth Service Corp, so that young people can contribute to social reconstruction, nation-building, community mobilisation and fulfil their human potential as proud South Africans. The IFP is as equally committed to the empowerment of women, and will implement a wide range of developmental programmes for women. Women make up the majority of the provincial population, and in many cases they are the only breadwinners for their families. In their roles as nurturers and caretakers of children, women suffer disproportionately due to the lack of basic service provision in the rural and peri-urban areas. These include establishing programmes that enable women to move from the informal to the formal economy, and to develop existing income generating skills.

It is time for Real Development Now. As I said when I launched the IFP's national election campaign on the 18th of January, HIV/Aids is the ANC government's biggest policy failure. I so often fear that the statistics of the scale of the epidemic are so frequently branded about and the political rhetoric so often about point scoring that there is a real danger that we will become immune to the scale of the crisis.

Let us put it simply: about one in eleven people we meet on the taxi to work, at the office, in the gym, at the communion rail in church, and in our family is HIV positive. KwaZulu-Natal has the country's highest prevalence rate of HIV /Aids and one of the highest in the world. The fight against HIV/Aids will be one of the top priorities of the IFP provincial government. It is estimated that the number of Aids orphans is likely to rise to nearly 500, 000 by the year 2010. The plight of Aids orphans will be prioritised by the IFP administration. As you know, the IFP has already taken a groundbreaking stand in KwaZulu-Natal, to prevent the spread of HIV. The Premier of KwaZulu-Natal ordered the immediate distribution of Nevirapine to all HIV-positive pregnant women in the province, to prevent their babies from being born with a death sentence.

We will extend this programme to provide anti-retroviral drugs for infected mothers and for all those living with HIV/Aids, as well as extending testing and drug provision sites. And we will identify all children in exceptional need and promote support for their well-being in the community. One of the first responsibilities of government is to protect its citizens. The IFP provincial government will adopt a zero tolerance attitude to crime and corruption. The tidal wave of crime that is sweeping across our nation is tearing our society apart, and is one of the major factors inhibiting investors from coming here.

The Department of Safety and Security in the new administration will prioritise the development of a crime busting strategy within the grave constrain of the lack of provincial powers in this field. We recognise that we need to be tough on crime as well as tough on the causes of crime. The IFP provincial government will establish urban and rural crime watches, to enable the community to safeguard each other's and their own properties more effectively. On the preventative side, we will implement crime prevention programmes in schools, such as drug's education, which integrates aspects that discourage youth involvement in crime and extends the role of community policing forums.

One of the major causes of crime is the vicious cycle of inter-generational poverty that cruelly robs people of their dignity. The IFP will break the chains of poverty by equipping people with the skills and resources they need, so that they can go as far as their God given talent will take them. A hand up, not a hand down. The IFP provincial government will transform the province's Department of Public Works into an instrument to spearhead rural development and job creation. The Department of Works in the new administration will work with the other departments to develop a fully-fledged Rural Development Programme.

Agriculture provides one of the major opportunities to get people into work and lift communities out of poverty. We will develop the province as the nation's breadbasket, by developing a non-land intensive and labour intensive, high value added crop agronomic industry. This will be achieved by implementing a provincial back-to-basics food security campaign, and launching a "New Deal" for people in the rural areas, which will ensure that land is fully optimised for agricultural activity by supplying farming implements, such as tractors, dipping tanks, fertilisers and seeds.

I endorse what the Premier of KwaZulu announced in his State of the Province address of this year, which reflects policies which I promoted for many years. I refer to the so-called Green Revolution, which holds the promise capable of generating hundreds of thousands of jobs in our province. The IFP government will create incentives for farmers to convert part of their farms to labour intensive crops, which do not require much land, but produce high added value, such as avocado pears, spices, tropical nuts and specialised citrus fruits. This programme will also enable the creation of smaller, but highly efficient and highly productive agricultural units, which can support a more equitable distribution of land, and the emergence of a new class of farmers, especially amongst the most disadvantaged segments of our population. The provincial government will take it upon itself to market agricultural products of KwaZulu Natal on a worldwide based scale, branding them as high added value quality products, the same way the Western Cape has done in respect of its own, especially wine. The Green Revolution can change the face of our province, creating jobs for everyone and turning what was once "the garden of the empire" into the "delicatessen basket" of the world. The Green Revolution can put people to work, assist with the land issue and make money for all.

To drive the pace of delivery, the IFP provincial government will continue to improve the capacity of councillor's performance by increased training and monitoring. We will strengthen the delivery capacity of municipalities, by ensuring that they receive the necessary support and know-how to implement their Integrated Development Plans. We will also strengthen the administrative capacity of traditional authorities so that they can be the primary vehicles of development in their areas. Traditional authorities will be empowered to implement the latest ideas and best practises in modern land management and land reform.

Our cutting-edge programme is based upon the timeless IFP's twin values of self-help and self-reliance. The IFP has always believed that education is the best long-term investment with the best returns that any government anywhere can make.

The IFP-led provincial government in the 2004/5 budget has already allocated R13.2 billion to invest in our education priorities. These include 1, 300 new classrooms and increasing the amount spent on pupil learner support material to R263 in 2004/05 - well above the national average. We will build on our excellent record on education, by strengthening existing and building new township and rural schools and placing particular emphasis on the provision of learner support materials in under-privileged schools.

I have only been able to briefly outline some of the IFP's proposals in our KwaZulu-Natal Growth and Development Plan, to transform KwaZulu-Natal and place it on the path to prosperity and success. The IFP provincial government will be rooted in the bedrock of the three 'C's that the IFP adheres to. They are Caring, Capable and Clean. We will not tolerate corruption or tardiness. This writ will run wide and deep. No exceptions will be made.

I love this province. Even my detractors would concede that! The development of its peoples has always been my abiding passion. One of the marvellous traits about this province's peoples is that they so often have had the courage to be different: to break away from the herd instinct. The poet Robert Frost once said, "I am against a homogenised society. It stops the cream rising to the top." I want the cream we call 'KwaZulu-Natal' to rise to the top. With an IFP government it will. All we ask is for the opportunity to serve. My greatest honour and ambition has been that of serving the people of this Province and, with the help of God, I shall continue to do so.

May God bless KwaZulu Natal and all its people.

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