Date: 09/08/2010
Source: The Inkatha Freedom Party
Title: IFP: Buthelezi: Address by the president of the IFP, at the Women's Brigade prayer meeting, Ulundi

Of the many events that the IFP Women's Brigade could have organized
to mark this day on our national calendar, it is wonderful that you
have chosen to come together in prayer. At a time like this, with the
troubles we face in our Party and in our nation, it is good to set
aside a moment to focus on our faith, to thank the Almighty for His
hand upon us ? individually and as a body ? and to seek wisdom for the
way ahead.

This is not the first time we have found ourselves traversing
difficult waters. The IFP Women's Brigade bears the memory of our
country's liberation struggle, during which the members of our Party
worked and sacrificed and persevered in the most desperate
circumstances. This body also bears the memory of the low intensity
civil war of the eighties that brought grief into our own homes with
the loss of husbands, sisters, and children. The violence of that time
claimed 20,000 black lives and is a scar on our past.

We remember apartheid, segregation and separation from our families.
We remember being uprooted and displaced. We remember working the
fields from dusk to dawn and still not having enough to feed our
children. We remember poverty, a lack of access to basic services like
running water, electricity and sanitation. We remember the absence of
justice, the inaccessibility of financial assistance, the pain of
seeing our children suffer. But most of all; we recall the constant
gnawing misgiving that the power to change South Africa would remain
beyond our grasp.

Today, in the full light of liberation, politicians would have us
believe that the people never doubted we would attain freedom. I have
always marveled at how former President Nelson Mandela, when writing
to me from Robben Island, seemed convinced of our eventual success. In
truth, he was one of the few. Of course we all hoped; and we dared not
stop hoping, for the alternative was too ghastly to contemplate. But
as we waged the day to day struggle against discrimination and
minority rule, most of us faced a battle to keep believing.

That is the nature of faith. It is not automatic, unshakable or
unwavering. It needs to be constantly exercised in order for its power
to be revealed. In Romans 12 the Apostle Paul reminds us that we all
have been given a measure of faith. What has been given to you is
neither greater nor less than what has been given to me. Why then do
some believe steadfastly despite the circumstances, while others
falter at the first sign of adversity? I believe the answer lies in
relationship.

I have found that when one walks in a relationship with Christ,
submitting and praying, reading the Word and believing, repenting and
reforming; when trials come, one is able to bear them. In the light of
God's greatness, one gains a new perspective on obstacles, challenges
and difficulties. We are warned in Hebrews 11 verse 6 that, "Without
faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently
seek Him." To me, faith in God depends on an understanding of God's
character, and that requires a relationship.

Throughout my life, the source of my strength and energy has been my
relationships. There have been many dark hours in which I suffered the
arrows of vilification and lies. Many turned against me when the
propaganda machine began to label me an enemy of freedom and a stooge
of the State. I thank God that many others stayed at my side and
walked with me through the valley of lies. Men and women of faith
encouraged me with their friendship; they prayed for me, and with me,
and their steadfastness strengthened my resolve.

It was not only vilification that made my career difficult. I have
been faced with many tough decisions as a leader in our country. There
has always been the choice between flowing with what is popular, and
standing for what is right. Taking a stand for truth is often lonely
and invariably comes at a cost. It was not easy for me to speak out
about HIV and Aids when our culture shies away from talking about sex
in public. Particularly as a leader, I was expected to refrain from
addressing such issues. But it was because I am a leader that I knew I
had to speak openly when I lost two of my children to this disease.

My public acknowledgement that my son and daughter had both succumbed
to Aids opened the way for other leaders to broach the subject. South
Africa's fight against HIV/Aids had been crippled for years by the
veil of secrecy and shame that still covered this topic. Government's
approach to fighting this war has left much to be desired and some of
its policies have taken us backwards. But I feel we are still able to
arrest the onward march of HIV/Aids if we keep talking to eradicate
ignorance, keep working to increase the quality and length of life of
sufferers, and keep committing ourselves to live responsibly.

The decision to champion the fight against HIV/Aids was one of the
easier decisions I have had to make in my career. Others were more
complicated and it was not always obvious what I should do. I knew
that no matter what I did or said as a political leader, I would never
be able to please everyone all the time and the cost of my calling
would be a growing number of detractors as the years went by.

My decision to reject nominal independence for KwaZulu broke the back
of the grand scheme of apartheid, but it won me no medals. My decision
to reject the armed struggle and the call for international sanctions
and disinvestment kept our country from greater poverty and certain
war, but it earned me the contempt of my contemporaries.

These are decisions in the public domain and history remembers them
well. But behind the scenes there were countless choices I needed to
make every day, and these were the choices that brought the IFP and
South Africa to where we are today. I chose to campaign for the
release of Nelson Mandela, even though the nationalist government
threatened me for doing so. I chose to meet with liberation leaders in
exile, even though my passport was then confiscated for 9 years. I
chose to make the IFP a home to all South Africans with a common goal
of freedom, even when the former Minister of Justice instructed me to
limit it to Zulus. And I chose one wife, even though my culture
pressurized me towards polygamy.

Today, it is no secret that my relationship with my wife has been a
tremendous blessing to me. Princess Irene has been a faithful
help-meet, sharing both my pain and my joys as half a century in
public life exposed me to the best and the worst in human nature. She
has encouraged me, advised me, warned me and prayed for me.
Opportunities for me to publically acknowledge her remarkable
character are too few, and I take this, the celebration of Women's
Day, as a moment to honour her before women.

And to celebrate with you the 58th Anniversary of our marriage which
was on the 2nd of July 2010.

It is also well known that my relationship with my mother greatly
influenced my faith and my political career. It was my mother who
ensured that I received a higher education, and it was she who taught
me the value of exercising my faith in the manner the Bible exhorts
us, through "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs; sing and make music
in your heart to the Lord?" (Ephesians 6 verse 19). These
relationships strengthened me and shaped my character. Being close to
these two women in my pilgrimage has been one of the greatest
blessings of my life. I thank God for them.

The Women's Brigade of the IFP can attest to the power of
relationships. Throughout the years, it has always been our call to
work hand in hand, to help ourselves and help one another. Our
foundational belief is ubuntu botho and we know that no one is truly
rich when their neighbour still lives in poverty. The IFP Women's
Brigade has also been a great blessing in my political journey. It has
been the backbone of the IFP and women of the IFP have rarely
abandoned me. Some have abandoned me and betrayed me. But there have
been less betrayals by women members in the long row of all the
traitors that have betrayed me over the years. For this, I again thank
the Almighty.

When I was the Chief Minister of KwaZulu, we developed partnerships
between government and communities that enabled us to build schools,
houses and clinics, even on the shoestring budget allocated to
KwaZulu. The relationships between IFP women have given birth to
cooperatives, vegetable gardens, shared childcare and community
development. I am proud of our women.

But I must confess that I am extremely concerned that our Women's
Brigade members seem to have been distracted by other things from
following our beliefs in self-help and self-reliance. By doing so we
are allowing people to steal our clothes and in the process we fail
ourselves in addressing the gut-wrenching poverty that women in
particular have to address in all our communities. In spite of the
damage control which our sister Mrs Mchunu is trying to do, our
Women's Brigade Conferences' Exhibition no longer give us a window to
see the demonstration of self-help and self-reliance which IFP Women's
Brigade Conference Exhibitions showed us in the past. And yet we have
not been faced with a more challenging time than that which we face at
this time especially when it comes to food security in the midst of
the global recession. Our rural areas are no longer as green as they
use to be before 1994. This is one of the greatest challenges our
Women's Brigade is facing. We need to have a hand in helping our
people to face the problem of food security.

But in the same way as relationships can build one's strength, so too
can the destruction of relationships cause great pain. We are seeing
this happen in our own Party, where the divides between supporters and
non-supporters are becoming nothing short of factionalism and the
tensions are breeding violence. The ructions this has caused have had
a serious impact on our Party; both on its internal functioning and
its capacity to serve South Africa. Moreover, our image has been
tarnished in the public eye and support for the IFP is in danger of
further dwindling.

Our attention has been so focused on our internal problems that we
have failed to fully implement the Vukuzithathe campaign with which we
tasked ourselves last year. We have failed to mobilize and grow
support for next year's Local Government Elections. And we have failed
to give South Africa a party untouched by power struggles, dirty
politics and violence. That is perhaps our greatest failing. I have
warned us repeatedly that if these problems continue, they will
destroy the IFP's legacy.

The legacy of this Party is my legacy, but it is also the legacy of
the Women's Brigade. This body has invested a tremendous amount of
time and energy into the IFP, as well as investing its reputation.
Thus if the Party fails, the Women's Brigade fails. I have made it
clear before that I also believe that if the Women's Brigade fails,
the Party will fail. Our greatest support remains among the women of
South Africa. The majority of our members are women, and the majority
of our active members are women. You are the backbone of the IFP.

There are people who have decided to cultivate a very convenient
amnesia amongst members of this Party and particularly when it comes
to the gender issue.

No one can with a clear conscience accuse me and the IFP of having
failed to address the gender issue. I addressed this issue long before
1994, before it was in vogue to address it. I repealed the Zulu Code
of Law which enslaved women of this province. I made it possible for
women to have locus standi in judicio. In other words to sue and be
sued in their own name. I changed their status of being perpetual
minors to be majors and to have a right to own property. Women did not
have a right to own their houses and I removed from our statue books
laws that prevented women from owning property. The cruel habit of
chasing away women from their houses once their spouses had died was
abolished by me and the KwaZulu government many decades ago and before
the dawn of our freedom. Can women so easily forget these things and
be so gullible as to swallow hook, line and sinker the propaganda of
our political enemies and of some of the useful idiots within the
Party that are being used by our political opponents to vilify me and
the leadership of the IFP? Who appointed the first woman as a
Minister in South Africa? It was me when I appointed Dr Mthalane as
the first Deputy Minister of Health in the KwaZulu government. After
the dawn of our liberation we appointed former leaders of this Women's
Brigade Mrs Nokukhanya kaNkosi-Shandu and Mrs Faith Xolile Gasa as
Ministers of Education in the KwaZulu Natal government. Where do these
lies that we do not address the gender issue come from?

If anyone wished to destroy this Party, they would aim their blow at
the backbone. And that is exactly what is happening. I was appalled to
hear an ANC Minister of State, Mr Tokyo Sexwale, publically affirming
the lie that the IFP and its leadership are persecuting our National
Chairperson. The ANC Women's League quickly jumped on the bandwagon
and offered Mrs Magwaza-Msibi succour and support. The image was
created of an IFP that cares nothing for its women; a Party that is
trying to stifle its women's voices and ambition.

That is not the Party I founded, nor is it the Party this Women's
Brigade fought for over the past three decades. For many of our
members, the work of the Women's Brigade spans their lifetime. You
have grown up in this Party and know the Party as home. I therefore
pray that you will not be led astray in your own home to become part
of a plot to destroy the IFP. It seems inconceivable, but I have been
flummoxed at the names that have become embroiled in this whole
debacle. I ask you to remain steadfast and to question whether what
you are doing is preserving the IFP's proud legacy, or obliterating it.

We each must live with our own conscience. That is a lesson I have
learned in over half a century in politics and public life. It is the
yardstick by which I measured the choices I made when I was faced with
difficult decisions, both during our liberation struggle and in the
sixteen years of democracy. Liberation did not automatically make
leadership easy. On 27 April 1994, we took the first step on a long
journey towards creating the South Africa our people had always
dreamed of. Political enfranchisement was the first milestone. Ahead
lay the markers of social justice, legislative reform, the rule of law
and shared development.

We have not passed these markers yet, and our journey continues. The
IFP is still at the vanguard of this journey. We still carry the
mandate of hundreds of thousands of South Africans from every walk of
life. We still represent our nation in Parliament and in the
Provincial Legislatures and in our Municipalities. We still have
hundreds of Councilors serving at the local level across this country.
The IFP is still needed and still relevant, and we will press forward
today, tomorrow and in the years to come for the sake of the country
we love.

We may have experienced problems since 2009, but what is a year of
difficulty compared with 35 years of strength? Our history and our
legacy still stand, and they remind us of our commitment to serving
South Africa. We will remember this time of hardship in the Party,
just as we remember every other storm we have weathered. And members
of the Women's Brigade in generations to come will point to it and
tell their sisters; this is where we learnt the importance of unity.
This was the moment of reckoning. May future generations remember this
time as the catalyst that provoked us to stronger relationships and
unity of purpose.

May God guide us towards this outcome.

I thank you.