Date: 21/08/2011
Source: The Inkatha Freedom Party
Title: IFP: Buthelezi: Address by the president, at a community meeting, Umlazi

I thank you for inviting me to visit you post the 2011 Local
Government Elections. I welcome the opportunity to come to Umlazi to
thank you for your support in the elections, and for your ongoing
commitment to the IFP.

The 18 May elections saw the governance of Umlazi shift from the IFP
into the hands of a coalition. It was not a painless shift, and it was
not born of a change of heart in Umlazi. Rather, it came on the back
of a split vote engineered by the NFP, and brought a leadership that
you never asked for. It has changed the mandate of the IFP, but it has
not changed our commitment to work in Umlazi, with Umlazi, for Umlazi.
After all, we still have thousands of members and supporters in
Umlazi.

On the 18th of May, South Africa spoke through the ballot box and
asked the IFP to take up a new mantle of opposition politics. We were
shed of most of the responsibilities of governance, freeing us up to
engage a no-holds barred opposition to the mounting deficiencies and
wrongs in our country's government. The IFP is no longer pulled
between governing and being a watchdog over governance. We have one
goal and one focus. We are intent on holding your leadership
accountable.

South Africa has asked the IFP to become its champion of opposition
politics because of our strength. This is no second fiddle role. In
fact, the Local Government Election results saw the IFP regaining our
position as the third largest political party in the country. Across
South Africa more than a million votes of support were cast for the
IFP, whether they were for an IFP councilor, an IFP-run municipality
or an IFP-led district. Voters were given two or three ballot papers
on which to make their choice, and some 1.3 million times the people
chose the IFP.

The idea that our role is diminishing, as all doomsayers are
suggesting, is therefore ridiculous. We are changing our mandate, but
we are not changing our ideals. Our principles remain unchanged. Our
values are uncompromised. The IFP remains the party of integrity; a
leadership that you can trust. I am pleased that our relationship
continues in Umlazi. I know there are those who feel disenchanted with
what happened here and the way in which the ANC was brought in through
a coalition partnership. For your sake, the IFP will keep vigilant
watch over this coalition. We will not allow all we have accomplished
together to be damaged by any corruption or inefficiency.

I am also aware that, like in all other parties, there was some
dissatisfaction with the choice of candidate here. I am not trying to
deny responsibility as the leader of this Party. But it was decided
not to involve me in the Candidate Selection Committee. So I had no
idea whatsoever of what happened in this case. But I learnt that the
Candidate Selection Committee was advised by the local leadership as
much as possible.

It really pains me when I hear all sorts of stories in some of our
constituencies where the choice of the members was ignored and
allegations that some individual leaders manipulated the process and
misguided the Candidate Selection Committee in some instances. If this
is true, it is regrettable. And I wish to apologise to our members,
even though I was not personally involved. This has compounded our
problems. I wish to appeal to you; please, let us be more vigilant
next time. We should not cry over spilt milk. Let us look at how we
can avoid these pitfalls during the forthcoming 2014 general election.

I know that many families in Umlazi are struggling. Just last month
more than a dozen homes were flooded because of poor construction.
These RDP houses were built under a tender contract worth R328
million. The company that won the tender is under investigation for
its shoddy work. Some houses are in danger of falling apart and are
hardly safe for habitation. Shortly before the Local Government
Elections, the Department of Human Settlements revealed that many of
the RDP houses that had been built across South Africa were so poorly
constructed that it would cost approximately R58 billion to make them
habitable.

This is unacceptable. We are far from having reached our
constitutional target of providing adequate housing for all. But
instead of building more houses, we have to fix the ones already
built. This is the fruit of corrupt tender practices and
maladministration. The IFP believes that housing should be allocated
in a transparent and orderly manner that is easily understood by all.

We also believe in proper planning and management of hostels and
informal settlements. Thus we will not relent in applying pressure on
Government to improve the subhuman conditions of many hostels. We
believe hostels should be converted from dormitory style accommodation
into self-contained units that can accommodate single people or
families. Such units must be affordable, have basic services and be
integrated into the broader community.

We intend to hold government in Umlazi to account for what it does and
does not do for you. Umlazi was one of 19 hung municipalities after
the Local Government Elections. The ANC did not win a clear majority,
and neither did the NFP. But the NFP and ANC went into coalition to
run the 19 municipalities, giving Umlazi an ANC-NFP government. The
NFP declared this was ?the will of the people', yet it is not what you
asked for on the 18th of May.

In fact, even NFP Councilors were disenchanted with the coalition that
their leadership had formed. In Umlalazi, the NFP's representatives
rejected the ANC-NFP coalition and voted for an IFP municipal
leadership. The IFP won a mayoral seat because NFP Councilors voted
for the IFP instead of the ANC. But they were quickly brought into
line. In a show of strength, the ANC sent some of its big names to
Umlalazi to promote the ANC-NFP coalition. That meeting deteriorated
into a mudslinging exercise, as ANC events are wont to do.

You will recall how the Premier of Gauteng, the Honourable Ms Nomvula
Nonkonyana, came to Umlazi T-Section last month for the ANC's
Siyabonga Rally and called the IFP ?a dead snake?. Tensions were
already running high, and such comments were grossly irresponsible. I
am amazed that the NFP is now blaming me for violence, claiming that I
launched an attack on the ANC-NFP coalition two weekends ago.

Two weekends ago, I was speaking at the national elective conference
of SADESMO, here in Umlazi, and I said the same things I have been
saying for months; things that I said in the national House of
Parliament on the 15th of February. I gave a detailed account of the
collusion between the ANC and the NFP in Parliament and produced sworn
statements. The leader of the ANC did not deny the facts I put to him
in Parliament. It is therefore ridiculous that the NFP leadership
wants me to unsay what I said in Parliament when the leadership of the
ANC did not refute a single one of the facts that I put before
Parliament in February.

I have challenged the NFP to read the official transcript of my
remarks in Parliament and point out one single sentence in which I
instructed or encouraged our supporters to violence. They will not
find it, because it isn't there. I abhor violence. I believe in
engaging problems through negotiation, not through the barrel of the
gun. My entire legacy stands as testimony to this truth. I was
vilified throughout the world for not embracing the armed struggle.

I felt it important that I address this issue as I come here today,
for I am deeply concerned by the bloodshed that continues in KwaZulu
Natal and Gauteng. Lives are still being lost to violence, and
tensions must be addressed. I have called for a meeting between the
leadership of the IFP and the NFP to talk seriously about this issue
and ensure that it is resolved. The violence must stop. The
accusations and slanders and mudslinging have to end. It is wrong of
the NFP to keep dragging my name into the violence. They know me. They
know I am not involved. I uphold the ideals of non-violence and
negotiations which the founding fathers of the ANC upheld when the ANC
was founded in January 1912.

I have come here today with a challenge to Umlazi. There is a great
deal of energy and passion in this community. Your political
allegiance runs deep. Some feel angry about the coalition, some feel
frustrated at the IFP's loss. Most of you are worried about the
future. I challenge you to channel all of this into mobilizing support
for a strong opposition. The IFP has become the champion of opposition
politics. As you strengthen the IFP, you strengthen your own voice in
governance.

Let us stop the violence in our communities and turn it into a
political revolution. Not the kind of revolution that the ANC Youth
League spouts, that will see our economy destroyed through
nationalization, and national unity decimated through land grabs. But
the kind of revolution that the IFP has been preaching for decades; a
revolution of the people of goodwill. There are too many social evils
plaguing South Africa. Corruption has become endemic.

When Inkatha led the erstwhile KwaZulu Government, not one single
allegation of corruption was ever leveled against our administration.
And we did not spend one cent on self-promotion. The same was the case
when the province was run by the IFP after 1994. We didn't spend
taxpayers' money on media communications and PR exercises. It was
never about looking good. It was about being good; at governance, at
leadership and development. It was about building houses, clinics and
schools; about providing healthcare and banking services. It was about
protecting citizens, empowering small businesses, assisting farmers,
feeding families, creating jobs and seeking peace.

I find it interesting that the ANC wants a state-sponsored newspaper
entirely dedicated to promoting the achievements of our ANC-led
Government. Every day we open the papers and see stories of corrupt
officials, corrupt tender practices, maladministration, service
delivery protests, price hikes and strikes. Reality cannot be changed
by hiding it under the carpet, and it cannot be overshadowed by
flooding us with feel-good stories. Reality can only be changed by
people of goodwill strengthening those with the courage and integrity
to call for change.

The IFP has always spoken truth to power. We have no fear of pointing
out corruption or exposing the inefficiencies of Government. Our
courage comes from our integrity. Our sense of responsibility to what
is true and right and just, will not allow us to keep silent when we
witness corruption. For seventeen years the IFP has pointed out
weaknesses in leadership and poor policy directions. We have not done
this to embarrass anyone or to make ourselves look good. We do it
because of our commitment to making South Africa work. We believe you
deserve more and better. It makes no sense to emphasize our people's
poverty in one breath, and at the same time steal from the poor
through corruption that involves even ministers.

Thus the IFP will keep working for you. For the sake of the many who
voted for the IFP, and for the sake of those who will suffer poor
leadership because they did not, the IFP will keep working and serving
and leading. I ask you to strengthen us on the road ahead. There is a
tendency in African culture to support leaders just because they are
leaders. That is not the way of true democracy. Democracy demands that
you choose the leaders you believe will best serve your needs and
represent your interests, and that you then hold them accountable for
doing it. If they fail, you switch your vote.

I therefore encourage you to watch the ANC-NFP coalition carefully.
You may not have given them your vote, but they now carry the
responsibility of serving you. That does not automatically grant them
a right to your allegiance. Don't become despondent and think that you
are stuck with these leaders forever. It is up to you to hold them
accountable. It is up to you to strengthen the opposition. And it is
up to you to vote them out if they fail to serve Umlazi.

That is your responsibility. Our responsibility is to keep making your
voice heard. The IFP will be a vocal opposition. We will be loud,
direct and honest. We will absorb all the passion and energy in
Umlazi, and channel it into strengthening the voice of the people
within government. You should not be told what you need. Your
government should be asking you. The IFP believes in governance from
the bottom up; not dictatorship, centralization or a one-party state.

We are entering a new era of the IFP. In two months time we will
convene at our national elective conference and concretize our plans
for the future. There is still a great deal of work ahead of us before
conference. We must ensure that our structures are functioning well
and our branches have been audited. Even though the Local Government
Elections are over, and even though the NFP has broken away and formed
a coalition with the ANC, there are still plans afoot to destroy our
Party.

I say this with a heavy heart and I measure my words carefully. I am
aware of clandestine meetings and subterfuge aimed at dividing the
IFP. We are not a spent political force, as our detractors like to
pretend. We are a serious threat to politically hegemony in South
Africa. We stand as an obstacle to anyone who wants to weaken
democracy, tinker with the Constitution or subvert the rule of law. We
were the voice of conscience in the Government of National Unity. We
were the voice of reason in the government of President Mbeki. We have
been the voice of integrity under President Zuma. Now the IFP is the
voice of opposition.

Ours is the voice of the people of South Africa who feel they have
been ignored when they cried out for jobs, homes, education, security
and moral leadership. We are the voice of the people who have not been
fooled; the people who know that our government could have and should
have done better by now. The IFP speaks on your behalf. We do it with
your mandate and your support. Thank you for keeping faith with the
IFP. Thank you for supporting me and my Party.

Things may have changed in Umlazi this year. But the IFP's commitment
to serving you will never change. Together, we can secure the future.
I thank you.