Date: 27/04/2010
Source: The Inkatha Freedom Party
Title: IFP: Buthelezi: Address by the Inkatha Freedom Party president, on Freedom Day Celebrations, Vryheid

On the 27th of April 1994, South Africans of every race, culture,
language and background convened on polling stations across the
country. Rich and poor, young and old, we came to cast our votes. Some
for the first time. Some with the hope of maintaining the course. Some
with the dream of changing the future. But all with an equal right to
make our cross on the ballot paper and to speak with a voice that
carried no more and no less weight than anyone else's. For the first
time in South Africa's history we all stood on an equal footing and,
through the elections, expressed that we had at last become one nation.

I am delighted to be in Vryheid today, as we remember our first
democratic elections of 1994 through the celebration of Freedom Day.
Amongst the various national holidays that we observe in South Africa,
Freedom Day is perhaps the most inclusive. We often lament that
festivals and events organized to celebrate national days are not
attended by a representative mixture of South Africans. This has given
us cause to question whether every South African feels a sense of
ownership of our democracy. And whether we really became one Nation
as we hoped to be on the 27th of April 1994.

Right now our national unity stands on precarious ground, following
the murder of AWB leader Mr Eugene Terre'Blanche and the racially
divisive behaviour of the ANC Youth League President. Although the
hairline fracture of division clearly still exists even sixteen years
into democracy, Freedom Day reminds us that we have taken the first
step towards unity. We took that first step as a nation in 1994. Now,
we need to keep moving forward. It does not matter that that unity
still eludes us.

Throughout the world, our transition from apartheid to democracy was
heralded as a miracle. And surely God did play a fundamental role in
bringing liberty to South Africa.

But our transition was also birthed through the tremendous sacrifices
made by countless people over many years. Our struggle for freedom did
not begin with my generation. We simply accepted to carry forward the
legacy of what our parents and their parents had achieved.

For many South Africans, the history of South Africa is cast in the
simplistic terms of apartheid and democracy. But the complex
relationship between different peoples on South African soil began
long before apartheid was introduced. My maternal great great
Grandfather, King Mpande, was approached by the Norwegian Missionary
Society which sought land to establish the first mission station.
Bishop Schreuder and King Mpande became good friends. My Grandfather,
King Dinuzulu, was imprisoned by the British and exiled to the island
of St Helena. My uncle, King Solomon ka Dinuzulu and his brother
Prince Mshiyeni ka Dinuzulu were born during their father's exile on
the Island of St Helena. Their sister, my mother Princess Magogo ka
Dinuzulu was born at Usuthu Royal Residence after their father
returned from exile. King Dinuzulu was to later be charged with
treason during the Zulu Rebellion of 1906 and died in exile in the
Transvaal.

I am excited to be here in the area which was ruled by my great great
great maternal aunt Princess Mkabayi ka Jama. This is an area of great
warriors of our Kingdom. The Princess herself played a very important
role in the affairs of the Zulu Royal House. I think of Nhlaka
Mdlalose, Sikhobobo ka Mabhabhakazana Sibiya, Prince Mbilini and
several other great warriors who made us the respected Nation that the
Zulu people are today throughout the world. ISandlwana is not far
from here where the Zulu Regiments inflicted a humiliating defeat on
the most powerful army in the world, the British army of Queen Victoria.

How can I forget these things after all His Majesty King Cetshwayo ka
Mpande whose kingdom was being attacked is my maternal great
grandfather? After all, the Commander-in-Chief of all the Kings'
Regiments was none other than the King's Prime Minister ? Mnyamana
Buthelezi. Why should one forget these things? After all, Mkhandumba
Buthelezi my grandfather and his brother Mntumengana participated in
that great battle of Isandlwana. Abaqulusi were always one of the key
Regiments of the Kings' Regiments. Even as a child growing up at my
uncle King Solomon ka Dinuzulu's Palace at KwaDlamahlahla, I saw a bit
of what Abaqulusi were all about. Every 4th of March, my uncle Prince
Mshiyeni ka Dinuzulu as Regent held a memorial service at the grave of
his brother King Solomon ka Dinuzulu. On each occasion there would be
a huge Calvary of Abaqulusi who rode their horses. It was awe
inspiring for us as children and there was no doubt that these were
descendants of the Zulu Kings' great warriors. Our history did not
start in 1910 or in 1912 when our forebears founded the African Native
Congress when it was founded. We have a great history. The Anglo-Zulu
war of 1879 was the greatest challenge that the Zulu Nation ever
faced. This was long before there was segregationist policies of the
British Colonial Government and the apartheid of the Nationalist Party.

Before my grandfather King Dinuzulu ka Cetshwayo was exiled to the
Island of St Helena as I have mentioned, his father before him King
Cetshwayo was exiled to Ou de Moulen in the Western Cape after being a
prisoner in the Castle in Cape Town with Queens who accompanied him.

We have a long and great history. When we sweep it under the carpet,
we do not only diminish ourselves but we do a grave injustice to a
string of our own brave warriors who sacrificed their lives for us.

These bits of history show that South Africa's struggle reaches far
further back than we tend to remember. 1994 has become our constant
reference point when we speak of how far we have come as a country.
1994 was indeed a pivotal point in our history; a culmination of small
victories and the destination on a long road of suffering. But South
Africa was not born in 1994. Our country has inspired deep patriotism
in various forms for many generations. What of the Anglo-Boer War
where again Afrikaners showed such amazing bravery.

When I was Chief Minister of the erstwhile KwaZulu Government, the
nationalist regime tried to honey-trap me into accepting nominal
independence for KwaZulu to try to separate KwaZulu from South Africa.
If I had fallen into this trap, millions of South Africans would have
lost their citizenship and none of them would have had the right to
vote on 27 April 1994.

The struggle to be recognized as South African citizens with equal
franchise has been long and arduous. Our history contains battles
fought on the rolling plains, and battles fought at the Union
Buildings. Our struggle for reconciliation and national unity has cost
blood during the internecine low intensity civil war waged between
members of the ANC and members of Inkatha. It has cost sweat through
the lengthy negotiations at the World Trade Centre in Kempton Park. It
has cost tears as we lived through the TRC process, trying to come to
terms with our tragic past.

There is much more to our shared history than 27 April 1994.
Nevertheless, it is important to celebrate this reference point.
Freedom Day should be a celebration of our first true act of national
unity, and it should inspire us to look ahead for more opportunities
to express a common purpose and a shared goal. And I believe that the
goal we should aspire to is the full liberation of South Africa.

Political liberation was not the final destination; it was the first
step on a long journey towards freedom from all the social evils and
burdens we face; including poverty, underdevelopment, crime,
continuing gender inequality, poor service delivery, and the ongoing
inaccessibility of a sound education, decent housing, necessary health
care and the prospect of a better quality of life for our children.

There is still an enormous amount of work to be done to ensure that
South Africa might achieve full liberation in the years to come. It
would be devastating if we agreed to stand on the milestone of 1994,
and stay there, accepting that this is how far we can go as a nation.
The ruling Party would have us believe that political liberation is
enough. We all remember their slogans in the run-up to the 1994
elections. They promised houses and jobs, as though these things would
just materialize out of thin air the moment we marked the ballot.

We see in Zimbabwe the tragic example of a nation that stood still
after liberation. Zimbabwe is decades away from having achieved
political freedom. But still its leader points to the past and blames
every social ill on Western Imperialists who have long since had any
influence on Zimbabwe's governance. The problems Zimbabwe faces are
self-inflicted. While we hope and pray that our neighbour will emerge
from its hardship, let us be sure that South Africa does not stumble
on the same obstacle of forever looking backwards for someone to
blame, instead of pressing forward to greater heights.

Just like Zimbabwe, South Africa faces some tough economic decisions.
Every nation is just a few decisions away from disaster or success.
For this reason, it is vitally important that the leaders we choose
and the leaders we support are people with foresight, vision and
integrity, who put the service of our nation before their own egos and
bank balances. Unfortunately, in the past sixteen years, South Africa
has witnessed one leader after the next being tainted by corruption
and scandal. We have come to the point where even our country's
President entered the highest office of the land under a cloud of
suspicion.

I have spoken in Parliament saying that we must support our President,
warts and all, for the sake of our country. Because the failure of the
President is the failure of the nation. But the lesson of 1994 should
teach us that we, the people, have control over who leads South
Africa. I believe we are wasting our vote if we fall prey to the old
African tradition of voting for the people already in power, just
because they are in power.

In 1994, the ANC received an overwhelming number of votes. But it fell
short of an outright two thirds majority. Regardless of the propaganda
that vilified me for so many years prior to our first democratic
elections, and despite the ANC working hard to project itself as the
sole liberator of South Africa, more than two million South Africans
voted for the IFP in 1994.

Those two million votes were not from people who simply eschewed
voting for the ANC. They were a voting tide of people of goodwill who
saw the IFP as the best hope for a democratic South Africa that would
work. They trusted the IFP's experience in governance. They knew the
IFP's track record of integrity, knowing that not once had an
allegation of corruption ever been leveled against my administration
in KwaZulu. They had walked a long road with the IFP and recognized us
as the champions of development and bottom-up governance.

In the past sixteen years of democracy, much has changed in the
political landscape. The ANC has continued its fight for political
hegemony that began even in the eighties when it foisted its own
leadership on our communities. We have seen the breakaway of COPE from
the ANC, which split the votes and saw COPE becoming the third largest
political party. The DA's ascendency has grown rapidly on the back of
disillusionment, as voters have seen that the empty promises of the
ANC prior to each election fail to ever materialize.

In all of this, the IFP has found itself repositioned in the political
arena. In 1994, South Africa entered a Government of National Unity
and I became Minister of Home Affairs for the first decade of
democracy. In KwaZulu Natal, the electorate gave the IFP a clear
mandate to govern and, consistent with our commitment to inclusivity,
we invited participation from the ANC. Clearly, however, this was not
enough for the ANC. In 1999 the then President Thabo Mbeki offered me
the Deputy Presidency, provided that I give the premiership of KwaZulu
Natal to the ANC. I could not betray the electorate, and I refused. I
had to forego the opportunity to be Deputy President on principle.

When the ANC took KwaZulu Natal in 2004, it feigned to continue
cooperative governance, but took the first opportunity to oust the IFP
with the Local Government Elections of 2006. The many good projects
the IFP-led provincial government had planned were put on hold
indefinitely and development in KwaZulu Natal took a backseat to the
consolidation of power.

The IFP originally parted ways with the ANC in 1979, when we could not
accept the ideology of an armed struggle that would cost the lives of
ordinary South Africans. We could also not agree to the call for
international sanctions and disinvestment which impoverished our
country and inspired the formation of industrial monopolies that still
have their claws in taxpayers' money. The IFP still thinks differently
to the ANC. The IFP is less concerned with grasping power and more
concerned about serving the interests of South Africa.

But being the consistent and trustworthy servant of the nation has not
placed the IFP in the limelight. We have not grabbed the headlines,
because we have not sold out to the popularity machine that says any
publicity is good publicity. The publicity Mr Julius Malema attracts
is not good publicity. It may keep the ANC in the spotlight, but it
does nothing to benefit the image of our country or our leadership
either nationally or throughout the world. The headlines the ANC makes
do not inspire hope or security. They do not promote national unity.
They do not encourage investment.

The day-to-day hard work of the IFP to uplift South Africans, promote
development and lead a revolution of goodwill, does not make the
headlines, but is desperately needed. I cannot help but think of the
many tough decisions I have had to make throughout half a century in
public life. I have rejected choosing the popular way and my choices
have not found the support of everyone, all the time. In fact, I have
been ridiculed and vilified for taking a stand for South Africa's
long-term future, rather than pursuing my own short-term popularity.

People have criticized me and criticized the IFP for keeping our heads
down and working for the benefit of our nation, rather than being
loud-mouthed and playing the often dirty game of politics. Support for
other parties may have grown in the past sixteen years, but I believe
the hundreds of thousands of South Africans who continue to vote for
the IFP represent a remnant of people of goodwill. These people see
through the charade of false promises. They see past the propaganda of
simply criticizing everything Government does without offering
solutions.

IFP people are people who accept that the road ahead is still going to
be tough, and a leadership of integrity and principle is our only hope
of navigating it safely. South Africa is not going to progress on
blind optimism and empty promises. We need a leadership that accepts
the hard facts and has the courage to act.

Before the global economic crisis hit, I warned Government to heed the
signs and adopt measures to minimize the damage an economic downturn
would cause. Now the downturn has become a recession, but Government
still insists it is not as bad as it seems and insists it is already
practically over. This is not the experience of ordinary people.

The effects of the economic crisis on the poorest of the poor have
been devastating. Many South Africans have been stripped of the
ability to put food on the table. Jobs have been lost and the cost of
living has risen dramatically. And the effects will still be felt long
after economists tell us we are on the way back up.

Next week, I shall be traveling to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where ?
for the first time ? the World Economic Forum on Africa will be held
in East Africa. The focus of the Forum will be on rethinking Africa's
growth strategy in light of the global recession. It is common wisdom
that we need to reassess the systems governing global cooperation,
financial architecture and policies linked to trade and climate change.

In 1992, I attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
where, together with former President Nelson Mandela and former
President FW de Klerk, we announced our intention of constructing a
new South Africa. Almost two decades later there is again a need to
construct a new South Africa. This time it is not about political
liberation, however, but about liberating our nation from poverty and
economic crisis.

The IFP knows this truth. We accept that Freedom Day is not about
resting on our laurels and congratulating ourselves on how far we have
come. Freedom Day is about acknowledging that we are all equally
responsible for the future of South Africa, because we all have an
equal say in who best represents our interests. That voice is bestowed
by the ballot box.

As we celebrate sixteen years of democracy, I urge South Africans to
consider whether the leaders we have chosen to serve us are in fact
serving our nation. In a few months time we will go to the polls in
the 2011 Local Government elections and have the opportunity to hire
or fire municipal leadership. This is the time for the supporters and
members of the IFP to talk sense to the electorate.

It is good for democracy that the ruling Party should have a vibrant
and effective opposition. We are part of the opposition which
unfortunately is fragmented. The truth of the matter is that each and
every party in South Africa has cleavages within. So we are no
exception. But the tragedy is that as a small opposition Party, rifts
within the IFP renders us ineffective. It is sad that there is so much
corruption in South Africa today. We see this at every level of our
public life. Although the IFP is not immune from this disease of
corruption, we cannot adopt a holier than thou attitude. The tragedy
is the latest development in the IFP as the Party at the helm in this
municipality. The saddest development is the corruption that is taking
place around the succession debate that is taking place within the
IFP. People who have received tenders and jobs from our district
municipality have been involved in corrupting our members with money.
There seems to be no doubt that taxpayers money is being used on a
very large scale, particularly in municipal areas such as Abaqulusi
and others. It is the first time that taxpayers' money has been used
by people entrusted with service delivery to promote selfish political
agendas. It is a shame that so many taxpayers money is used for such
purposes when our people are living in gut-wrenching poverty. We need
to reflect on what we are doing as we remember the excitement that
enveloped us on the 27th of April 1994, when we all cast our votes for
the first time within a democratic dispensation.

The people of goodwill need to engage South Africans in any and every
forum, whether at church, on the sports fields, in community centres,
at the shops or at work. The message needs to go out that there is
something better than empty promises. There is something better than a
leadership plagued by corruption and scandal. There is something
better than poor service delivery and constant excuses. Voters will
not tolerate to vote for people whose hands stink of corruption.

The IFP is still standing. We are still working and still striving for
a South Africa in which power plays take a back seat to service
delivery, and development tops the agenda. The IFP is not an attention
seeker. Instead we seek poverty alleviation and community upliftment.
We seek a government that cares for its people. We seek an end to
criminality and the beginning of economic stability.

These are things the IFP knows how to achieve. And we have the
political will to achieve them, because our concern is not with how
much money we can make for an elite few leaders, but how our country's
resources can be channelled to the people. The IFP cares about South
Africa. As we celebrate Freedom Day in the Abaqulusi area today, I
encourage us all to make a commitment to ensuring that the vote we won
in 1994 will never be wasted on a leadership that doesn't deserve our
support.

Let's use the vote to usher in a leadership of integrity. Let's use
the vote to speak to our leaders. Let's use it to strengthen the IFP;
because a stronger IFP is a stronger South Africa. We took the first
step in 1994. Now, let us keep moving forwards.

I thank you.