Date: 14/04/2009

Source: Inkatha Freedom Party

Title: IFP: Buthelezi: Remarks by the IFP leader at the launch of the Sizonqoba campaign

Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to have the opportunity to address
you today. We are exactly one week and one day from what is shaping up
to be one of the most crucial in the history of a democratic South
Africa.

You have just heard from Mrs KaMagwaza-Msibi who I am proud to have as
the IFP's candidate for Premier of KwaZulu-Natal. Her record of service
and sacrifice is well known to the people of Zululand. She is an
inspirational leader and an able administrator who will return the
government of this province to order and effectiveness.

Mrs KaMagwaza-Msibi has set out the compelling case to elect an IFP
government in KwaZulu Natal. This case is not based upon the sort of
false promises that the ruling party throws about like confetti. It is
built upon the solid foundation of the IFP's proven track record in
government.

Let me just reiterate that one simple fact that our Premier Candidate
has highlighted to illustrate how the IFP track record contrasts so
sharply with the costly failure of the ANC. When the IFP was last in
government in this province 74% of students passed their matric
examinations. Today the figure is less than 60%. In that stark statistic
is represented the hopes of tens of thousands of our young people,
cruelly destroyed by the venal incompetence of the ANC government in
this province. South Africa cannot afford this sort of failure.

But this failure extends far beyond the matric pass rate. In almost
every area the government of KZN is failing. Unemployment is nearly 30%
on the official measure and far higher in reality; there is a housing
backlog of over 300,000 homes, more than 6,000 civil servants are under
investigation for housing fraud and the classroom backlog is nearly
10,000. Most tragically over 2 million people are suffering in this
province with HIV.Aids. It is time for a change to rescue our province.

In this province and nationally, the IFP has a proud history of
leadership and effectiveness in government. That experience and
willingness to lead will be vital if we are to tackle the many
challenges that South Africa faces today. Key amongst these are the need
to restore administrative effectiveness to government; to stamp out the
increasingly pervasive corruption that distorts our society; to tackle
the crises in our education, health and welfare services; and, to reform
our economy to meet the challenges of the global downturn.

But above all our challenge is to restore moral leadership to South
Africa so that we can begin to tackle the social crisis that permeates
our society. In order to fix it, we must first acknowledge that our
society is broken. Family structures are collapsing; criminality is
becoming a way of life for whole sections of society; and an
'anything-goes' culture is taking a dangerous hold in our urban
communities.

The IFP is here to provide the moral leadership to turn back the tide
and restore moral health to our democracy. That leadership has never
been so desperately needed nor so shamefully lacking from our
government. Fifteen years on from the birth our democracy our country is
struggling.

Of course we should never fail to honour the achievements of past years.
We took some bold and important steps together in those early years and
we should acknowledge and credit them. Yet we must be honest with
ourselves, that the past five years have held too many disappointments
and set backs.

In the first ten years of our democracy, when unity governments drew on
the talents of leaders from a variety of political traditions - both at
national level and here in KwaZulu Natal - South Africa shone as a
beacon to the world; a champion of human rights and a pioneer of
economic, institutional and social reform.

The tasks before us sometimes looked overwhelming. Apartheid had left us
with a deformed state and every public service had been distorted by its
philosophy of division and hatred. The administrative challenges alone
of integrating so many divided services, in the fields of education,
health and social welfare were daunting enough. Yet we all set about the
process with gusto and in truth we recorded many remarkable
achievements.

Yet I regret deeply that in these times there were many great failing as
well. The IFP campaigned, for example, long and hard to try and persuade
the ANC to take a more serious approach to the gathering storm of
HIV/AIDS, yet the ANC failed to lead in this regard, with all the tragic
consequences that the country now suffers today

With the ending of a broad based national government in 2004 and the
increasing dominance and factionalism of the ANC, the hopes of a just
and prosperous South Africa began to fade. Today those hopes seem no
more than a distant dream

Over the past five years we have witnessed the disgraceful misuse of
government office to pursue ANC factional fights; the scandal of
increasingly pervasive corruption; the moral degeneration of our
country, starting with some of the most senior ANC leaders and - just a
few weeks ago - the final abandonment of any claim to moral leadership
in the world when the ANC refused His Holiness the Dalai Lama the right
to enter our country.

Let no-one - anywhere in the world - be in any doubt where the shabby
and shameful decision to deny the Dalai Lama a visa emanated from. It
came NOT from the people of South Africa - who cherish democracy and
human rights - but straight from Luthuli House; from the bosses of the
ANC; a party corrupted by power, devoid of principle and fatally
compromised by campaign donations from the Chinese Communist Party.

The reason that this shameful decision is so important is that it was no
mere moral aberration; it is symbolic of the past five years of ANC
arrogance and moral corruption, which has weakened our democracy,
undermined the faith of our people in the institutions of government and
tarnished our reputation throughout the world.

As I have said throughout this campaign, if people go to the voting
stations and vote for the ANC again on Wednesday 22nd April, they should
be in no doubt about what they will get. We need no crystal ball to
determine the future if the ANC are returned to power. It is written in
the last fifteen years of failure, corruption and moral collapse. So the
choice we have to make in just eight days could not be more critical. It
is a simple choice; a choice between more of the same or a change to
something better.

Fortunately, a better choice is on offer. The IFP's leaders have proved
themselves through decades of service to the people of South Africa. In
government at national and provincial level we have demonstrated the
political leadership and administrative skills that have allowed us to
improve life for thousands of our people.

When others have chosen to remain silent, I have spoken out on key
issues such as HIV/AIDS, human rights and poverty. Throughout a lifetime
of public service I have sought to offer South Africa a sense of moral
leadership. I will continue to provide that lead because today South
Africa needs it more than ever before.

On Wednesday 22 April, there is a real opportunity to turn the tide. All
the indications from our canvassers are that it will be an extremely
close contest between the IFP and the ANC in this province. But for us
to be successful, it is critical that everyone gets out and votes for
the IFP and that they ensure that their families and friends and
neighbours and in fact everyone they know, gets out and votes IFP. If
all our supporters get out and vote we are in reach of a famous victory.

So my final message is quite simple and it is one I shall be repeating
every day until the election. Whatever else you do, get out and vote on
April 22nd - the decision you have to make is simple: do you want five
years of more of the same under the ANC or do you want to see change for
the better under an IFP government?

I urge South Africa to vote for change on April 22nd and then on April
23rd we will start fixing South Africa together.