Date: 10/04/2010
Source: the Inkatha Freedom Party
Title: SA: Buthelezi: Address by the president of the IFP, on party mobilisation, Dannhauser

I welcome this opportunity to meet, as we as a Party face the
challenge of mobilizing for the 2011 Local Government Elections and
preparing for our Annual General Conference being held next month. It
is important for us to gather like this, to speak our minds and to
reaffirm our vision for our Party's future.

In the past year since the general elections, I have felt frustrated
by the premature resignation of some South Africans to an
ever-declining IFP. I have experienced a sense of urgency about
re-establishing a unified vision for our Party. I have been
disappointed that our Vukuzithathe campaign has not been implemented
within the timeframes we set. And I have been chagrined and angered by
the sabotage of a renegade group who are dead set on seeing change;
even change for the worse.

But in the midst of all these emotions, I now find something
unexpected swelling in my heart. I find, in this darkest hour, that my
hope is rising. This hope is buoyed on the wave of support I am seeing
from countless IFP members and councilors, who are coming forward to
express their determination to see the IFP succeed. The underhanded
work of those who want to see us fail has had an unexpected result; it
has served to awaken the giant that is the people of goodwill.

For too long the IFP's people of goodwill have been sitting back and
allowing our Party to drift away from relevance in the eyes of the
electorate. It is not that the IFP has become irrelevant; we are still
a guiding light of integrity and wisdom in a sea of poor governance
and poor leadership. The problem is that we have failed to carry the
electorate with us as we pursued the service of the nation. We have
not been loud enough, proud enough or enough of a headline grabber.

I know that in part this is because the IFP, unlike other political
parties, is not willing to sling mud at our opponents just to get
noticed. We have never engaged in character assassination for the sake
of the vote. We don't harp on other's failures or stir up the people's
anger towards our country's leaders. We are not a party of dirty
tricks. Instead, we have been a party that keeps its eye on the goal
of service delivery and the creation of a better quality of life for
all our people. We work diligently, steadily and faithfully for South
Africa.

That certainly does not make us headline material; not if one looks at
the type of things that grab the headlines today. But it does make us
the best hope for South Africa and a necessary ingredient in the
recipe for our country's prosperity, political health, security and
development. This Party has a unique contribution to make in South
Africa, one that it cannot afford to do without. You and I know that,
if not for the IFP, South Africa would not find itself free today.
Regardless of the propaganda and popular rhetoric, the fact remains
that the IFP played an essential role in the liberation of our country.

If not for my refusal to enter the armed struggle that cost our people
some 20,000 lives in a low intensity civil war during apartheid,
thousands upon thousands more would have died. If the IFP had entered
the armed struggle, South Africa would have been reduced to ashes. My
people are a strong people with a proud heritage. But we are not the
kind of people to sacrifice lives for ideologies; not when the high
moral ground will get us to our destination just as effectively.

If not for the IFP, the poverty that we see in our country today would
have been far more widespread and insurmountable. Under my leadership,
the IFP taught people the values of self-help and self-reliance, and
equipped them to apply what they learnt to bring practical results. We
built schools. We built houses. We built clinics. We started community
development projects. And we established financial institutions to
assist people who were poor in resources but rich in ideas to start
their own businesses. We rejected sanctions and disinvestment in order
to stop monopolies from springing up; the kind of monopolies, like
Eskom, that the ruling Party now allows to feed off our people.

If not for Inkatha, thousands of South Africans would not have had a
voice or a home when other liberation organizations were banned. If
not for the IFP, the denialism of HIV/Aids that cost us so many lives
would have seen mother-to-child transmission of the virus continue
unhindered, when it can so easily be stopped. Were it not for my
leadership in KwaZulu, women would have sought in vain for a champion
that would allow them to inherit their land when their husbands died,
rather than being instantly evicted based on archaic succession laws.

There are so many things the IFP has done for our country and for our
people. It is no wonder that, despite the intense campaign of
vilification waged by the ANC-in-exile against me, and in the face of
apartheid's propaganda that tried to sideline me, the IFP became the
second largest political party represented in our democracy in April
1994. The IFP has always been big. We have always been rock solid. And
we have always been backed by the people of goodwill, who shared our
vision for our country's future.

But I am devastated to stand here today and acknowledge that the IFP
is facing the biggest challenge we have ever come up against. Nothing
from outside our Party could stop us in the 35 years since we started.
But today, selfish ambition from within our ranks is shaking the very
foundations of our Party. Christ warned that a house divided against
itself cannot stand. The divisions that have entered the IFP on the
backs of the so-called "Friends of VZ Magwaza Msibi" threaten all that
we have worked for over 35 years.

Let me state unequivocally that this is not about a succession battle.
The media has called it that, and the "Friends of VZ" have happily
played along. But this is not about who will lead the IFP into the
future. It is about destroying the IFP's legacy to the point where we
are so weakened that power can be snatched away by those who care
nothing for this Party, but care a great deal about their own status.

I have nothing to gain at this point in my life from leadership
positions. I have been ready to step down twice before. But I am
damned if I will ever see the IFP destroyed by selfish ambition. I am
embarrassed by the ructions in the Party which have been flaunted by
the media before the electorate. I am not embarrassed for my own sake,
but for the sake of the IFP. We have always told the electorate that
we are the party of integrity, the party of delivery, the party of
honesty. We have assured them that we are a party that makes good on
its promises, a party free of corruption.

But now corrupt practices have entered the IFP, as the "Friends of VZ"
are comprised of people who have been given tenders and now feel the
obligation to further the selfish aims of those who seek to destroy
the Party. The insubordination of these people has caused chaos within
our ranks, which has impacted on service delivery. And this is where
it becomes totally unacceptable.

I feel that it would be remiss of me not to speak candidly about the
damage that "the friends of VZ Magwaza-Msibi" have done to our body
politic especially when I am speaking here in the district of Amajuba.
It is here that clandestine meetings have been held to brew the
anarchy in the midst of which we now find ourselves. The very first
subversive document was drafted at a meeting which took place at
NANDOS in Newcastle. There are other meetings that have been held
here which have resulted in this tragic division amongst councillors
here. There are councillors who take pride in the fact that they are
part of "the friends of VZ Magwaza-Msibi". We as a Party have not
done very well in this district even when BY-ELECTIONS took place.
There are BY-ELECTIONS that we have lost by default merely because our
councillors do not bother to work with our structures, the branches.
Instead, they busy themselves poisoning the minds of our members
through "the friends of VZ KaMagwaza-Msibi" which have damaged the
Party almost beyond repair. Everywhere we need as a Party to
double-up particularly after we performed so poorly during the general
election on the 22nd of April 2009. All other parties are engaged in
repositioning themselves for this critical local government election
next year. I say it is critical because if we lost in the local
government elections in the manner in which we were devastated here
during the general election that will mean the end of our Party in the
Amajuba district. Local government to me is much more important than
even the other higher tier levels of government for Councils are the
level of government which delivers directly to the people on the ground.

It is not however; true that service delivery has not taken place only
because Municipal Councils fail to do so. We are very much aware that
these Municipal Councils are a failure from the beginning because they
depend in the main from grants from the state coffers. They have no
taxation base. In the old democracies municipalities depended on
rates and other taxes that they charged. In our case; our
municipalities serve the poorest of the poor where because the
people's poverty is grinding gut-wrenching poverty and they cannot
afford to pay for services. That is why our Councils owe the state
billions of Rand.

All this make it all the more necessary for our Municipal Councils not
to fritter away the little funds that come via the state which are
meant to enable our municipalities to deliver services to our people.
The tragedy here is the big rift between the municipality and the very
councillors who serve the municipality. The tragedy here is that our
councillors do not have amicable relationship with their Mayor. So
many efforts have been mounted in the hope that some rapprochement
could be reached without any success. If the councillors of Amajuba
do still want us to survive as IFP here in the Amajuba District, I
have come here to appeal to them to please for the sake of all of us
to soften their stance and try and meet each other for the sake of the
Party. If this message of mine falls on deaf ears then our goose is
cooked. We might as well abandon any hope of the Party recovering in
Amajuba and us taking back the municipalities that we have lost and
regain the ground we lost during the general election last year.

I am deeply disappointed by this infighting among leaders that we see
in this municipality. Councillors and Party leaders in this District
have clashed repeatedly and if we do not sort ourselves out, we are
likely to lose this municipality in the 2011 Local Government
Elections. In fact, everything that has happened so far indicates that
the quarrels amongst our leaders are our Achilles Heel.

That is what we should be focused on. We have fallen into a deadly
trap when we give so much attention to the antics of the "Friends of
VZ Magwaza-Msibi" instead of focusing all our energies and time on
preparing for the Local Government Elections. In one year's time we
are going to face the electorate and watch them judge our performance
in the past five years of local government. A year is not a long time.
We are already a year away from the 2009 national elections, and what
have we achieved?

We may have done an outstanding job compared to other parties. We may
have worked harder and smarter than any of our political opponents.

But when the voters see the IFP, will they see a Party with an
unshakable legacy of good governance, service delivery, integrity and
commitment, or will they see ructions and instability; a party that is
hard to put your money on. Votes are the currency of the electorate.
They will not give you their cash if you can't be trusted.

I find myself frustrated, because the IFP is a fine organization. We
have excellent leaders. We have a solid foundation and a good
Constitution. We have effective structures. We have skill and
foresight. And we have many, many members and councilors who have the
best interests of South Africa at the forefront of their minds. But
that could all amount to nothing at the polling stations, because a
few people with big mouths and low agendas are leading our people
astray.

They are insulting our intelligence if they think we cannot see
through their dirty tricks. Our intelligence is insulted when we
receive an SMS urging us to support a leader whose "administrative
abilities are beyond reasonable doubt". Those of you who have been
with me in the past 35 years know first hand how much we achieved in
the erstwhile KwaZulu Government. On a shoestring budget, less than
any other province received, my administration delivered. We had
plenty of reasons why it was difficult to deliver, but we never used
any of them as an excuse not to do so. For young people who may not
know this, let them look around. We built these townships and the
decent houses which they see in townships like Madadeni. We built
thousands of schools in this district, including the Madadeni College
of Education which the ANC government closed down. I built shopping
malls such as the one you see at Madadeni. I invited entrepreneurs to
start factories in this district. There are too many things than I
can mention in a speech like this one.

When apartheid fell and each of the provinces gave an account to
national government for their resources, KwaZulu was the only province
that was not in the red. In fact, we were the only one who could hand
over any money from our coffers. And through all the years of
governance, not a single allegation of corruption was ever laid
against us. One journalist has remarked that while schools were
burning across South Africa, ours were the only schools in which
teachers and pupils arrived on time and actually engaged in education.

I shall not go into the details of my ten years in Cabinet as the
Minister of Home Affairs or the fact that South Africa's entire body
of policy and legislation on migration matters was transformed under
my leadership. Likewise I need not detail the 22 occasions on which I
acted as President of the Republic of South Africa. I say these things
merely to point out that the IFP's leader is not a flash in the pan.
Those who want to take over the IFP by force are doing so at great
cost to the IFP's legacy, name and support.

I regret that there are now very few who have travelled this long road
with me. But I do know that all of you, without exception, have been
attracted to the IFP because of the good reputation painstakingly
forged over the past 35 years. As the Founder of this Party, I have
given much to making it succeed. I have sacrificed time with my
family. I have sacrificed rest. And I have sacrificed following my own
best interests.

Time and again, in the past half a century in public life, temptations
have been put across my path to further my own name and career. But on
every occasion I have chosen to do what is right for the Party. I have
endured vilification and ridicule for choosing the Party's interests
above my own. Yet I believe that the IFP has an important contribution
to make to our country. I can never see the IFP as more important than
South Africa, and I could never see myself as more important than the
common good. I do not have a farm or a house through taking advantage
of my position then as Chief Minister of the erstwhile KwaZulu
Government. I have throughout my long public life regarded myself as
a servant of the people of South Africa.

When the apartheid regime offered nominal independence to KwaZulu,
which would automatically have bestowed enormous power onto me, I
rejected it as a honey-trap. If I had accepted, millions of South
Africans would have lost their citizenship and have had no inheritance
once we achieved liberation. When former President FW de Klerk invited
me to the negotiating table to engage bilateral discussions on the
form of a democratic dispensation, he was offering me the opportunity
to become the official liberator of our people. But I rejected the
invitation, setting the condition that political prisoners must be
freed and parties unbanned so that we could all come to the
negotiating table together.

In 1999, President Thabo Mbeki offered me the Deputy Presidency of the
country, provided that I gave the premiership of KwaZulu Natal to the
African National Congress. I could not betray the voters who had
elected the IFP to lead them, and thus rejected becoming South
Africa's Deputy President for the sake of upholding democracy. Twice I
have announced my intention to resign from leading this Party and
twice I have been unanimously urged by Conference to continue to lead.
I do not do things for my own benefit.

It is well known that I have already set my sights on stepping down at
our conference next month. However, I now have a problem which has
been created by the National Council, which on the 24th of October
2009 decided to ask me "to consider" continuing to serve as leader of
the Party in view of the anarchy that has been created in the Party.
This just in order they suggested to ensure a smoother succession
later. This was endorsed by both the Women's Brigade National
Council. Also by SADESMO. And by the Youth Brigade National
Executive. I have, however, found it difficult to make up my mind in
view of the destructive activities of "the friends of VZ
Magwaza-Msibi". I have no reason to want to hang on to the leadership
of the Party but I find myself in Queer Street when it comes to the
obvious destruction of the Party.

Selfish ambition is foreign to our Party. But it is seeping into the
ranks right now and we must set our hearts on arresting it before it
taints the soul of the IFP. We will see the results of this cancer at
the polling stations next year. The electorate will let us know
whether we successfully stopped the nonsense, or allowed it to
overwhelm us.

The indiscipline and defiance that we see amongst our councillors, and
some of the youth outside of the structures of the Party, is something
foreign to the IFP in the last 35 years.

Local government is close to the heart of the IFP. We believe in
federalism; empowering governance from the ground up so that all South
Africans will have a say in how they are governed, from matters
relating to basic services right through to matters of national
significance. While the IFP cares how national government is working
to secure our national territory, we are more acutely attentive to how
municipalities are providing sanitation, water, health care and other
basic services within our communities.

For this reason, matters of local governance dominate the agenda in
meetings of our National Executive Committee. Local governance is
without a doubt the single biggest challenge facing our Party
leadership in its everyday deliberations over what our councils are
doing or not doing. Week after week, month after month, and indeed,
year after year, we are confronted by an unceasing set of serious
problems, whose intensity and severity is worsening all the time. We
are working hard for the voters, and it is time to work hard for the
votes.

You cannot expect voters to vote for the IFP merely because they did
so in the past, or because they are expected to be loyal, or because
they support me. Affirmation of this kind will not secure the services
our people are entitled to, let alone those they expect. People demand
change in their lives, and if we fail to deliver, then we should not
be surprised when they vote for another party whom they hope beyond
hope will do a better job. We are the right choice for the people. We
are the right one's for the job. But we need to get our house in
order, and go and get the votes.

As I said at the outset, all this chaos and upheaval being caused by
those who seek our Party's downfall from within has somehow served a
purpose and had an unexpected result. It is unifying the core of those
who love the IFP. It has impassioned the people of goodwill with
righteous indignation that all we have worked for so long can be
threatened now because a few upstarts think that they should have more
power.

These "Friends of VZ" may make the headlines. They may arrest
attention with their unruly behaviour and with the lies they so
willingly spread about our top leadership. But they cannot prevail
against the tide of goodwill that quietly, steadily and unfailingly
seeks the Party's survival.

Regardless of the ructions in our Party at present, I am still proud
to be the President of this Party. I am proud of the heritage we have
given South Africa. I am proud of the hard work we have put in for 35
years. I am proud to serve the people of goodwill, knowing that our
shared vision for South Africa's future can be achieved if we keep
going in the right direction; the direction set by an IFP that has
been serving and struggling and working and winning since the day it
was founded.

We are still a winning party. Let us make sure that the results of
next year's Local Government Elections announce this truth to South
Africa. Let's get the votes. Let's win the wards. Let's draw together
and stand against those who seek the IFP's demise. Together, we have a
greater future.