Date: 21/03/2009

Source: Inkatha Freedom Party

Title: IFP: Buthelezi: Address by the president of the IFP at a rally in Emcebo

I am delighted to be here with you today in Nongoma. We gather under the
blazing sunshine as a great army under the IFP banner. Our hearts are
brimming with courage and hope for the coming battle. We are barely four
weeks away from an epic election: an election which promises to be a
truly defining moment in our country's history.

Never before in our fifteen year-old democracy have the stakes been so
high. Never before has there been such an opportunity to turn a failed
and tired government out of office. Never before has the political
opposition had a chance to redraw and refashion the politics of the
country. We dare not let this moment slip through our fingers. The time
has come to build a new majority around the politics of change.

Once, rarely twice, in each generation there is a sea change in the
political landscape. We have just witnessed such a moment in America. We
too, I believe, stand on the threshold of a time of change. The tide is
turning against the ANC. The question is: which party, if any, will
benefit from this? Will voters' dissatisfaction with the ruling party
translate into tangible support for opposition parties? Or will voters
simply stay away?

I believe the South African people are hungry for change. The IEC has
reported that a record of number of voters have registered to vote. As a
result, the voters' roll in KwaZulu Natal has never contained as many
names as now. The challenge for the opposition is to mobilise these
voters and ensure that they turn out to vote on April 22. We must ensure
that every IFP supporter in Nongoma turns out to vote on election day.
Every single vote counts. I urge each one of you to cast your vote for
change and to assist the elderly and infirm to reach the polling station
so that they can vote too.

I also cannot come to Nongoma and not mention the sporadic incidents of
violence and intimidation that took place here earlier in the year.
Again, I appeal to you, as well as supporters of the ANC, not to engage
in acts of violence. Let us never forget: we have no enemies, only
political opponents. We largely differ on the means, rarely on the goal
which is a better society. We fought in the trenches against apartheid
so that we can live in a democracy where there are no "no go" areas.
Tolerance is the crown of a democratic society. Anyone who adheres to
the rule of law should be free to campaign here or anywhere they like.

I have also been concerned at reports that some IFP supporters have
encouraged one another to vote IFP at the provincial level and vote for
Mr Zuma at the national level. I cannot overemphasise that splitting
one's ballot paper like this is a disaster. Be in no doubt that a vote
for Mr Zuma is a vote for the ANC government. If you want an IFP
government put your cross next to the IFP on your ballot paper. We need
the largest team in the National Assembly possible as well as here in
the provincial legislature in KwaZulu-Natal.

I plead with you not to return to the old politics of ethnicity. It is
irrelevant if Mr Zuma is a Zulu. In terms of the competition of ideas
and policies, ethnicity is irrelevant. It is the policies and ideals we
champion which matters. In no discernable way, as far as I can tell, Mr
Zuma has spelled out how he will govern differently from his
predecessors as President of the ANC. It will be more of the same.

The state the ANC government has got this province and country into will
give you an idea of what is to come next. Our hospitals are grinding to
a halt under massive budget overdrafts. Our schools are turning out
fewer and fewer matriculants. Our law-abiding citizens are at the mercy
of criminals. Public transport is collapsing ˆ in Durban literally ˆ
with employees being laid off and passengers being stranded. It is
interesting that the ANC cannot find buses for school children in and
around Durban, but it can always arrange transport for its own
supporters to attend rallies in places such as Nongoma.

This election must be about ideals and principles, not about
personalities. The challenges of today's world require a special kind of
leadership strongly grounded in local communities. The grave challenges
facing our country take place within the context of a fast-changing
world. The old certainties are being swept away. The global financial
meltdown and worst recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s
form a bleak backdrop at a time when we need to be exporting our goods
and services.

Even the emerging powerhouses of China and India have taken a bad hit
with growth rates falling. Britain, our largest trading partner, for the
first time since Margaret Thatcher came to power, faces two million
people unemployed and most of the high street banks have been
renationalised. In America, Congress recently passed a massive $775
billion economic stimulus plan to drag America out of recession. Have
our leaders responded to the coming reality of recession here? What is
our response to redesigning of the international financial regime?

The ruling political classes are falling like dominoes everywhere
regardless of their ideological complexion. The old labels of 'left',
'right' and 'centre' sound almost quaint in today's world. Laissez faire
capitalism is on the racks. New ideas are needed. And we badly need some
new ideas in South Africa. The multiplication of new political parties
in South Africa has not, alas, been matched by a multiplication of new
ideas. A love of power has overtaken a love of country.

I stand before you today as a patriot who loves this country beyond
words. Let me speak from the heart. I am fortunate to have led a life
rich in opportunity and scope. And yet never before, even in the darkest
hour of apartheid, has the way forward seemed so uncertain. Today
challenges are somehow more nuanced and elusive. The Bible tells us that
"without a vision the people perish". When I survey the messages offered
by our political opponents, I ask: where is the vision? Where is the new
hope? Where is the promise of a better tomorrow?

The former American President, Theodore Roosevelt, offered a definition
of patriotism, which I subscribe to and is instructive. 'Patriotism
means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the
president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in
which he himself stands by the country.

'It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the
country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by
inefficiently or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country.
In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about
the president or anyone else.'

Who will stand by South Africa during this time of trial? Who are the
visionaries to guide us into and through this vision? Are they the
current political dynasties with their roots in exile? Are they the
aspiring but not quite yet established elite middle classes? Is it the
racially defined and racially constrained business? Or is it our bloated
and inefficient civil service?

Who is to guide our country through the daily turbulences of political
life and the larger challenges that lie beyond it? Who is to provide
sensible direction? Who is to tell right from wrong? Who is to offer a
credible moral voice? Who, in essence, will lead this great nation over
the River Jordan? The answer, my friends, is the IFP.

Once again, the IFP is called upon to provide leadership to a nation
which is not receiving the leadership it deserves and urgently needs. My
message to the people of this province and nation today is that we are
ready to serve you again.

We strive to win in order to serve. Our politics is not to be found in
the eloquence of our words, but in what we actually do. Politics is for
the purpose of action. There is nothing broken in South Africa that
cannot be fixed by the people of South Africa. The IFP wants to serve to
fix our broken society.

I have felt the frustration, the impatience, the urgency, the anger at
the waste of lives unfulfilled, ambitions stilted, hopes never achieved,
dreams never realised. Whilst there is one child still in poverty in
South Africa today, one pensioner in poverty, one person denied their
chance in life, there is one party that will have no rest, no vanity in
achievement, no sense of mission completed, until they too are free.
That party is the IFP.

I confidently assert that the IFP, which is the only opposition party
with a predominantly black support and a proven track-record in
government, has the long-term potential of governing the country. We
represent the political centre ground, rejecting the extremes of
centralised socialism and uncaring 'anything goes' capitalism.

I am not saying that we get it right all the time, no party ever does.
But we are the real and tested alternative. We aspire to lead South
Africa into a second wave of democractic renewal, deepening democracy
and spreading prosperity among our people. In this second wave, economic
freedom must follow political freedom. What do I mean when I speak of
economic freedom?

Where ever I go in South Africa, be it Hanover Park or Soweto, local
people tell me in no uncertain terms what economic freedom means to
them. The message is always the same. They don't speak of summits,
imbizos, targets and task teams. They don't even speak of party
manifestos! The reason is because the daily reality of the majority of
South African is an existence of gut-wrenching poverty.

South Africa's people need water. We need electricity. We want service
providers who treat us with the respect that clients of government
services deserve. We need accessible healthcare. We need access to
anti-retroviral drugs and medicine. We need affordable and safe public
transport. We people want law and order. We want safe streets. We want
effective community policing.

Our people need jobs. Our people want decent education for their
children. Our people want a future for their families. But more than
anything, our people want a government that is serious about all these
things. The IFP in government in this province demonstrated that it was
willing to take difficult decisions and we will not flinch from doing so
again in the future. You will recall that the IFP instructed the former
Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Dr LPHM Mtshali to roll out anti retroviral
drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV in defiance of the
national health minister. We did if for the simple reason that it was
the right thing to do.

The IFP will deliver short-term measures to improve the living standards
of the poor, including improved infrastructure, that is better roads,
water, energy and sanitation; a streamlined grant system, that is
increased, more transparent and means-tested benefits for the aged,
children, child-headed families, and carers of children orphaned by
Aids; and improved healthcare, that is better and more widely available
local preventive and curative care at minimal cost. Government needs to
find smarter and more efficient ways of delivering services.

In the long term, the IFP aims to equip the poor with the skills to
build for themselves a better life, including improved education,
resuscitated rural agriculture to ensure food security and sustainable
livelihoods; and municipalities and provinces as key role players in
addressing poverty with their powers and resources to deal with poverty
bolstered.

But, in the end, we cannot we wage the war against poverty by simply
dividing the existing pie up. We need to bake a much bigger pie for all
our people to share. This can only be achieved by growing the economy
and investing in our skills base.

We must never stop thinking about tomorrow. As a country, I sometimes
fear we have stopped thinking about the future. The best investment any
country can make is in the education of her children. Outcome Based
Education (OBE) is clearly not working as it should.

We must move fast to improve broadband connections and rebuild school
classrooms, laboratories and libraries so children across the country
can compete with children from Beijing and Bangalore for the high-tech
jobs of the future. My dream is that every girl and boy, irrespective of
their background, has the opportunity to go as far as their God-given
talents will take them.

And we are still not winning the fight against HIV/Aids. The next
government must invest in manufacturing generic medicines and work with,
not against, NGOs, trade unions, universities, philantrophic and
faith-based organisations. We have a vibrant activist community and we
need a government to show the will to make it work.

One glaring topical example of the IFP's commitment to real service
delivery as opposed to the ANC's preoccupation with self-promotion and
self-enrichment is the story of Ithala.

On Monday this week, our Premier Candidate, Ms Zanele kaMagwaza-Msibi
held a press conference in Durban to announce that the IFP had began the
process of legal action against the ANC-led provincial government by
announcing it had resorted to the courts in order to uncover the truth
behind the outstanding forensic audit report on the Department of
Agriculture's R125-million budget overdraft, R80-million of which is
unaccounted for.

Citing the use of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, Ms
kaMagwaza-Msibi said such court action would concentrate not just on the
disclosure of all the names of these "dubious beneficiaries" of Ithala
loans but would also investigate the bank's lending practices which
routinely contravened its own approved lending policies. Our Premier
Candidate has demonstrated, once again, this party's determination to
nail corruption when and wherever it occurs. If any of our opponents had
doubted it, this party, the IFP, has watchdog teeth! We will be tough on
corruption and tough on the causes of corruption.

Incidentally, much of the development in KwaZulu goes back to the
KwaZulu Finance Corporation, which I established and which has now been
renamed Ithala Development Corporation. Two to three decades on, the
industries which the KwaZulu Finance Corporation helped set up are still
viable and contribute to employment and productivity across KwaZulu
Natal. This is because the KwaZulu Government allocated development
finance to those who genuinely cared about development. The KwaZulu
Finance Corporation likewise enabled the poorest of the poor to access
funding which commercial banks in South Africa would not provide. This
same selfless, pioneering spirit will guide an IFP provincial government
in prioritising genuine development projects. This I promise you.

So my appeal to you today, is to cast your vote for the "tried and
tested alternative": the IFP. We do not define ourselves by what we are
against, but by what we are for. We are proud of our diversity and we
are equally are proud that we belong to one nation under one flag. We
stand for the fisherman in Kalk Bay, the domestic worker, the café owner
in Chatsworth and the board manager in Sandton. We stand for jobseekers,
students, and single parents too. We stand for people of faith, and
those of none.

All we ask for is a chance to serve. We believe our values of
solidarity, freedom and unity, and our principles and policies coupled
with bold leadership and political courage, can change South Africa for
the better. None of this will be possible, however, unless we secure
political power. Every vote counts and we do not take a single vote for
granted. I ask each one of you to take our message to your families, to
your workplaces and to your communities.

God Bless South Africa.

I thank you.