Date: 19/09/2009
Source: Inkatha Freedom Party
Title: IFP: Buthelezi: Keynote address by the president of the IFP, at the National Elective Conference of the South Africa Democratic Students Movement, Durban

It gives me great pleasure to be with you today to renew, strengthen
and move forward a long-standing dialogue which I have maintained with
students over many generations. In my various capacities as leader of
the Inkatha Freedom Party and former Chancellor of the University of
Zululand, and through my various other ministerial and traditional
leadership responsibilities, I have seen many young people going
through the cycle of experiencing the mighty and empowering forces of
youth, and then slowly moving into the regular patterns of life which
by necessity restrict and define the options everyone has and the
position one is to adopt and maintain in life.

Your age is an extraordinary one, for at this time of life all your
options are still open. Within each of you lies the power to shape
your future life into what it will finally become. Once that process
of initial shaping is completed, it becomes very hard to reshape
oneself into something different. Life is a process with no
rehearsals, and it seldom offers a second chance or a new beginning.

These considerations drawn from individual experience have a more
profound political significance on which I feel this conference ought
to focus. As your individual future is yours to make, so our
collective future as a country is for the young generation to forge.
In this process, SADESMO must provide its own leadership, filling a
political role which no one else can perform and which is absolutely
necessary if your generation is to save the collective future of our
country.

Each generation must find its own mission. Each generation has the
historical duty to bring about its own revolution. I come from a
generation which dared to dream beyond what most people believe to be
reasonable. We conceived, nourished and single-mindedly pursued the
dream of liberation within our time. Most of us pursued the dream
knowing its importance, even though we doubted whether it could
actually been realized.

We knew that even though our dream for liberation might not have been
realized within our lifetime, it could nonetheless have been passed on
into the hands of those who came after us and, for that reason alone,
it was our duty before God and man to dream the dream. I do not know
how many of you can actually realize what it meant for our generation
to see that dream become reality. To this day, all that we have
achieved seems unbelievable. When I ponder on it, I cannot but be
deeply moved.

I urge you to conceive, nourish and single-mindedly pursue a dream as
large as the one we had, and to make that the agenda for SADESMO, the
agenda for the IFP and the agenda for South Africa. We live in a time
in which the country seems to have no clear agenda beyond rhetoric,
empty words and an endless stream of platitudes and commonplaces. We
can set the agenda for the country and we must not fail the
responsibility to do so. The youth has a special role to perform in
this regard because, in the end, what is at stake is not my future,
but yours.

At this meeting, I can offer to SADESMO and through it to the youth of
South Africa my own dream and my own capacity to dream beyond the
boundaries and limitations of the present. My dream is not a new one,
but we must now give to it much deeper meaning and capacity of
realisation. As I have often stated, I dream that one day the whole of
South Africa, including all its sons and daughters, may finally enjoy
the same level of prosperity, education, individual and collective
human development and comfort which before liberation were enjoyed
exclusively by the then ruling white minority. I dream that we can
achieve this goal by creating an advanced society which is truly
modern and yet truly African, so that we may achieve the highest
levels of individual and collective progress as Africans.

This requires a profound transformation of our society as well as a
profound transformation of who we are, to the point that the social
revolution which I envisage may not come about unless accompanied by a
cultural revolution which enables us to change, and to grow through
that change.

What revolution do I speak of? What revolution do I envisage? What
revolution am I calling for? I am not speaking of a revolution which
is conducted through the barrel of the gun, or even with rebellion,
disorderly conduct or destructive behaviour. Those are the easy
revolutions to bring about, and I am not a man who has ever advocated
the easy route, because I know that easy routes are often downhill and
achieve no permanent results. History recalls an endless stream of
bloody, disruptive and catastrophic revolutions which, in the end,
created more problems than they solved, and inflicted on the people
greater suffering and human and social cost than they intended to
address.

My life experience stands as a testimony that the easy revolutions are
doomed. Since I was your age, I pointed to the need of pursuing our
liberation the hard way, which was through passive resistance,
non-violence, civil disobedience and negotiations, negotiations and
negotiations. I did so because I knew that the easy revolution of
violence, terrorism and social disruption would fail in the end, while
inflicting enormous social cost on the poorest of the poor. And
history proved me right.

The armed struggle burned out an entire generation of youth which
refused to be educated, and brought about tens of thousands of deaths
amongst the poorest communities leading to nothing but failure; for in
the end we all ended up pursuing a negotiated settlement - as I had
advocated since the beginning - with the added pain of realising that,
if anything, certain aspects of the armed struggle delayed rather than
brought forward the day of liberation.

The revolution I speak of requires moral high ground, strength of
intellect and a willingness to be different. I urge each generation
not to conform. History would stop if our children were as good as we
are. Our children bear the responsibility to be better than we are for
progress to come about. It is within the law of nature that children
must move away from their parents, not physically, emotionally or in
terms of affection, but in that which regards how they see life and
their entire set of values, parameters and perspectives.

It is consonant with the law of nature and necessary for progress that
the world of children be different from that of parents, and for this
reason it is imperative that you all accept the need and sometimes the
pain of not conforming to the world you live in as youth, because
within you lies the embryo of a new world which is to come through
your own effort, and which found its moment of conception in your
decision to not conform.

The revolution I speak of is one which requires the strength of one's
own convictions and the willingness to take upon yourself all the
burdens of our society and carry them on your shoulders from this
moment on. This is no exaggeration, because those burdens are on you
right now and they will affect you and your generation, not me and my
generation. I will give you a single example to signify what I mean,
which could be multiplied a thousand-fold.

The South African State is now operating at a loss of 650 billion Rand
which it has borrowed from international bankers, pension funds and
financial potentates. This money is borrowed with interest. This year
the State will make up the shortfall between the revenues it can raise
and the money it has committed to spend by borrowing another 80
billion Rand. The Minister of Finance has announced that this figure
will be much greater next year, because the impact of the recession
will be felt more strongly next year when the Government will not be
able to collect its taxes, as few companies or businesses will make a
taxable profit this year.

The Minister of Finance has announced that next year he may borrow an
additional 127 billion Rand, but this figure could very likely become
much higher. Summing all this up takes us close to a trillion Rand of
debt, which is constantly requiring more and more money to be paid for
the interest on the principal. Who is going to pay off this huge debt?
I won't. My generation will not. You will. Each of you will need to
work your fingers to the bone to pay off this debt. Therefore, you can
see that when I urge you to accept that all the burdens of society are
already on your shoulders, I am not exaggerating.

What is a revolutionary to do when confronted with these and many
other burdens? I have no hesitation in mentioning Lenin, who knew a
lot about revolutions and identified as the first responsibility of a
revolutionary that of education him- or herself. Your starting point,
which must become the hallmark of SADESMO and the leadership which it
is to provide to the youth of South Africa, should be the call to
study, study and study.

When I talk about studying, I am not referring exclusively to your
curriculum in this or any other school. Your curriculum is essential,
because only through your formal education will you be able to muster
the skills required for your personal upbringing and growth through
the ranks of society.

The growth of our nation is another one of those burdens affecting our
future which lies on the shoulders of each and every one of you from
this very moment. South Africa suffers under a skills crisis of
immense proportions which affects the poorest segments of our society
and the historical victims of apartheid. This huge burden and crisis
can only be addressed by the individual efforts of each and every one
of you.

In the end, our country can become an educated, learned and progressed
society only if each and every one of you and every other student
around the country excels in the study of his or her curriculum. In
this respect, the burden of making the country grow is only partially
a collective responsibility as it really boils down to an individual
responsibility multiplied a million times and performed in the
isolated relationship between the single student and his book or
computer during homework time.

Do your curriculum first and attend to nothing else until the work
dedicated to it has been completed, but do not stop there. Today's
revolutionaries must educate themselves beyond what our education
system has to offer and the immediate requirements of skills and
training development tied to the needs of the workplace. Our
liberation movement must continue, for the final goal of liberation
will not be achieved until and unless your generation concretises that
seemingly unreachable dream to which I referred earlier; the dream of
a progressed, advanced, fair and just society.

Moving forward our liberation movement and pursuing the realisation of
this dream requires a daily, ongoing, silent revolution which in turn
requires a revolutionary avant garde of young men and women who have
studied, studied and studied and found direction, not only for
themselves but for the future of our society.

The importance of carrying the torch of integrity, which I think I
successfully carried throughout my long public life, needs to be
stressed. By way of example, although KwaZulu was less funded on a per
capita basis than any other self-governing territory or so-called
independent state, such as Transkei, Ciskei, Bophuthatswana and Venda,
we were the only ones who handed over funds from KwaZulu coffers to
the new democratic State in 1994. The last Minister of Finance of the
Apartheid Regime, Mr Derek Keys, visited Ulundi and paid us the
compliment that, as far as handling of our budget was concerned, he
felt that we had a lot of lessons to teach the National Government in
Pretoria.

Since this is an elective conference, I would be so happy if you
choose as your leaders people who continue to carry that torch of
integrity; people who will eschew corruption. Leaders must be
accountable to the people who elected them. As a leader in South
Africa, I can say that no one has ever been as vilified both here and
abroad as I have. But all that did not intimidate me and turn me into
something that was neither fish nor fowl. I stuck to my principles. I
stuck to my convictions notwithstanding the lies that were
disseminated throughout the world and also in South Africa about me
and the organisation that I led.

I would recommend the recently published book by Dr Anthea Jeffrey,
'The People's War', for you to understand how even the media in South
Africa caved down under the pressure. Read what Mr Thami Mazwai said
about the enormous pressure that was exerted on the media by the
ruling Party to toe the line. Positions of leadership are never for
the faint-hearted. Do not elect cowards who will turn out to be
weathercocks depending on which way the political wind blows.

The reason why I have survived to this day is because I was not a
media creation. While I respect the fourth estate as a necessity in
any democracy, including our own, I have never been influenced to do
the bidding of anyone trying to persuade me to abandon my principles.
This is a difficult road to follow. Populism is the latest game in
town in South Africa, and that is a path I never tried to follow. I
hope that as young lions of the IFP you can feel proud of that as your
legacy.

Leaders should not be elected or supported merely because of the way
they look. I know that there is a temptation to think of supporting a
candidate because of their physiognomy. To also be good looking can
only be a bonanza. People should be supported for what they stand for.
Solid leadership means that a leader of integrity must sometimes swim
against the current, if he or she has convictions.

At the height of Nazism in Germany, when the majority of the people
supported the ideology of Nazism, there were voices of integrity such
as Pastor Niemoller and Bonhoffer. They were literally out of step
with a battalion and yet we now know that they were right. Their
numbers did not matter when it came to what was ultimately the truth;
that the German nation was wrong in supporting and espousing Nazism.

What you do now as young revolutionaries is very important, because
what you do now will shape your own future. I recall in this
connection that Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe was our champion in the Fort
Hare branch of the Youth League. The 1960 Sharepville milestone, a
turning point in the history of South Africa, was a result of his
leadership. I hope that you will be careful with the kind of people to
whom you entrust your future, for your future will be dictated by what
you do now as young revolutionaries. And I must stress that our
ability to distinguish between true bravery and false bravado is
important. Don't be attracted only by the ability to spit fire.
Carefully examine what is behind that flame of fiery utterance.

I also wish to make the point that, in a democracy, people are
expected to disagree without being disagreeable. One thing which I can
only think God gave me is that I have never descended to the level of
hating those who disagree with me. I do not even regard the leaders of
the Party which has been in conflict with mine as enemies. I say this
notwithstanding the loss of lives that took place between us. I say,
we are just adversaries. And if I can say that about political
opponents, how can people in the same party regard each other as
enemies? Disagreement should not amount to animosity, particularly
between members of the same party.

In debating issues, we need more light than heat. One's contributions
are not judged on the basis of the extent to which they are acerbic. I
remember some of the warnings of Professor D.D.T. Jabavu, whom we
affectionately called 'Jili' at Fort Hare University. At the time I
did not quite understand some of the things he said on graduation day.
He warned us that we must be careful of 'a cipher who has no hope of
ever becoming a digit'! Although we were amused by his style of
speaking as students and paid less attention to the content of what he
said, later in life I have learnt to understand what he meant.

I remember verbatim one line of his graduation address. He said:
"Refrain from cheap platform tactics and from verbose press
effusions!" He would then pause, after making these statements, and we
as students would then shout: "Jili!" But as I grew older I learnt and
identified the kind of characters that he was referring to when
Professor Jabavu made those memorable statements. I have learnt that
they were more than a joke, as we treated them at the time he
addressed us. So, in selecting your leaders, avoid such characters
when you choose those you want to elect as your leaders.

Regarding the present times, let me also sound this warning. A new
world is being shaped through the global depression. A new monetary
system will be put in place. New divisions are emerging between
technological societies on the one hand and industrialized mass
manufacturing countries on the other. New ideas, dimensions and
perspectives are emerging within this rapidly and radically changed
world. Some of the new ideas are being expressed through the Internet.
Movies, documentaries and E-books distributed through Google Video and
You Tube have been downloaded by hundreds of millions of young people
worldwide and are creating a new sense of global awareness of the
challenge that your generation will have to face in making this a
better world.

In order to change the world for the better, your generation must
study and understand not only the economic dynamics, but also how the
monetary system works and how money is manipulated. Because, in the
end, each and every one of you and each country or nation of the world
will either be freed or enslaved by means of money and on the strength
of money. Today's chains of slavery are forged in banknotes.

The primary responsibility of a revolutionary is to gain a level of
awareness above that of the rest of society and, from that higher
ground, exercise a role of leadership which may slowly move the whole
of society towards its liberation. As part of this greater awareness,
all of you must realize the full measure of your present predicament,
which is huge. Your survival and success in life will depend on your
competing not only with your fellow students, not only with your age
group and peers within South Africa, but with anyone else, anywhere
else in the world.

Whether those of you who, in this institution, are now studying
Software Development will be able to get a job once you graduate, will
depend on your capacity to compete not only with your colleagues in
South Africa but with people of any age, anywhere in the global
village. And it may just be the case that a much older person in India
may get the job which would have enabled you and your family to put
daily bread on the table. The challenges of living and competing in a
global village are enormous and frightening. The burden is on you,
right here and right now.

As a revolutionary avant garde, where are you to focus your political
attention? As a party we have the values and the direction. Look for
and expose corruption, mismanagement and wastage of public money.
Whenever you see public money being wasted, that is your money that
they are using. Not the money you have now, but that which you will
earn in the future. When corruption and inefficiency siphon billions
of Rand out of the fiscus' coffers, they are increasing the debt that
your future labour and taxation will need to pay off.

SADESMO must spread within the students' movement a new sense of
militancy based on enhanced vigilance against corruption, inefficiency
and utter stupidity within Government. The policy directions of
Government are often noble and I share many of them. However, the gap
between policy and reality, between intention and realisation, and
between words and actions is becoming wider and wider by the day. It
is in this respect that SADESMO must identify shortcomings and hold
the Government and politicians accountable by raising its accusatory
finger and charging those who are not doing enough with the high crime
of jeopardizing your future.

It is a hard role to play. It is a difficult revolution to pursue. It
is a demanding commitment. But this is the legacy which I bequeath on
you as the future of the Party I founded. As a closing remark, I wish
you to ponder very seriously my own legacy and to whom it belongs. My
legacy is a great asset, but it is not mine. It will do no good to me
or have any value for me once I am in the grave. My legacy will only
have value as it will be used by all of you as a source of
inspiration, guidance and renewal of ideas and spirit. Therefore, my
legacy is indeed not mine, but yours. Because it is yours, I urge you
to consider very carefully what you are going to do with it and how
you are treating it. I speak of it because it too is part of your
future and I do not wish it to be diminished or damaged.

Whatever is now done to tarnish and undermine my legacy takes
something away from you and the future generations, not from me. Do
not let anyone do that to you for their own selfish purposes or
political ambition. Defend your own inheritance and let no one
manipulate you into giving away your birthright.

The IFP belongs to its future. From the past, the IFP carries into the
future a legacy which is now more relevant than ever. We are an avant
garde of people with integrity; leaders with backbone and
revolutionaries with a dream. The size of our Party does not matter
and does not determine the importance of our role. As an avant garde,
it is the strength of our ideas, courage and commitment which
determines our worth and the importance of our role in society.

Embrace this role with pride. Be proud to be a member of SADESMO and
instill the same pride in the rest of the student body. For SADESMO
must become the cool place for intelligent, committed young people to
exercise a role of leadership to save your future, which is otherwise
in great jeopardy.

I encourage you, I dare you, I beg you to take up and embrace this
challenge, not for my sake, but for your own.

May God bless you.