https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / Speeches RSS ← Back
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Embed Video

SA: Mangosuthu Buthelezi: Address by the Inkatha Freedom Party President, address ahead of the May 7 elections, Ingwavuma, KwaZulu-Natal (22/04/2014)

SA: Mangosuthu Buthelezi: Address by the Inkatha Freedom Party President, address ahead of the May 7 elections, Ingwavuma, KwaZulu-Natal (22/04/2014)

22nd April 2014

SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

Two weeks from now, South Africa will hold its fifth democratic elections.
You will have the opportunity to speak through the ballot box and send a
powerful message to our country's leaders.

You have the right to fire those who are not working in your best interests.
You have the power to send them packing. And you have the power to change
the way things are done in the governance of South Africa, by changing the
leadership responsible for governance.

The IFP is travelling the length and breadth of our country ensuring that
voters understand this important fact: the power is yours.

I am excited to be in Ingwavuma today to speak to you about the 7th of May
and what it means for you and your families. There is a great opportunity in
these elections, and I don't want you to miss it. It's the opportunity to
set our country on a different path; the right path; towards real change for
people still struggling twenty years into democracy.

There is no excuse or justification for the fact that people still endure
poverty, joblessness and despair, twenty years into democracy. Why must we
put up with poor service delivery, endless excuses and empty promises? That
is just not good enough. The IFP knows that you deserve better, and more.
And we are determined to create the kind of governance you deserve.

You deserve representatives who truly represent you; who are honest,
reliable and able to deliver. You deserve representatives like Ms Hleziphi
Myeni, who served the IFP so faithfully and whom we still miss since her
passing in September 2011. She was one of our most powerful woman leaders, a
former Deputy National Chairperson of our Women's Brigade and Speaker of the
Jozini Municipality when this municipality was under the leadership of the
IFP.

Thanks God, we have many leaders like Ms Myeni, who listen to the needs of
our people and carry your voice into governance as champions of your cause.
I don't need to convince you of the IFP's capacity for good governance. You
know the IFP. You know our track record of clean governance and integrity.
You know we deliver.

There is no doubt that the kind of leadership the IFP offers is exactly the
kind of leadership South Africa needs. There is good reason to vote for the
IFP in two weeks' time, to empower a leadership of integrity. Everyone is
talking about the failures and corruption of the present government. But
only the IFP is putting the power back where it belong; in your hands. The
IFP does more than just complain and point to the failings of Government. We
act, decisively, on your behalf, to bring solutions and fix the problem. We
are a constructive opposition because we are in it to serve.

The IFP has your best interests at heart. We are here to serve you. That is
clearly not something other parties can say. The ruling party, for instance,
would like to tell you about houses they built, for someone, somewhere,
twenty years ago. But they won't tell you why more than R200 million was
spent on one house, in Nkandla. They'll avoid answering to the many charges
of corruption that have compromised their authority as leaders in our
country.

They may still be at the helm. But they are not leaders.

Leaders don't allow the police to fire on striking mineworkers. Leaders
don't promise half a million jobs, then lose a million instead. They don't
give tenders to their boyfriends. They don't build RDP houses that fall down
within a year. They don't accuse you of stealing from the State if you draw
a social grant, but don't vote the way they want you to. Leaders don't bride
you to vote for them. They don't tell you you'll get into heaven if you give
them your vote.

Real leaders work for your support. They earn your trust and keep serving
you, even after elections. We struggled for generations to secure the right
to choose our own leaders. Now that we have that right, we must use it to
choose leaders worthy of our support.

There is a campaign right now, headed by the former Minister of Intelligence
and the former Deputy Minister of Health. These stalwarts of the ruling
party have recognised that something has fundamentally changed in the ruling
party. Something has gone rotten. They are asking South Africans to withhold
their vote for the ruling party, as a protest against the depth of
corruption that has infected it at every level.

But they are making one mistake. They are asking people to go to the polls
and spoil their ballot. They are effectively saying, "Don't vote". That is a
grossly irresponsible message. We would be shooting ourselves in the foot if
we didn't give South Africa a better alternative. We must vote. We have the
right to vote, hard-won, through a struggle that cost many lives. It is an
insult to the sacrifice of leaders like Bishop Alphaeus Zulu, Mr Walter
Sisulu and Inkosi Albert Luthuli if we fail to choose our leaders through
the ballot box.

Yes, there is corruption in government. Of some 200 municipalities in South
Africa, only 9 have received the stamp of approval from the Auditor General
for well-managed finances. Why are the finances in almost every single
municipality in our country in such a parlous state? How could R24,8 million
be squandered by provincial departments through unauthorised, irregular,
wasteful and fruitless expenditure?

Undoubtedly, we need to fire some people from government. But a spoilt
ballot won't do that. More importantly, a spoilt ballot won't put in place
the right people for the job. It won't change anything. It is just a lost
vote. I want you to understand this, because unless you get to the polling
station on May the 7th and vote for the IFP, nothing is going to change in
South Africa.

We have seen the consequences of being voteless people before. Do we really
voluntarily want to become voteless people again? Here in Ingwavuma, history
gives us a clear warning of what can happen when people don't have a vote,
and don't have a voice.

On 18 June 1982, the Apartheid Government announced that it had repossessed
Ingwavuma and kaNgwane. It was going to give away people and land to
Swaziland, as though you were mere pieces on a chess board. A million black
South Africans would have automatically changed citizenship. You would no
longer be South Africans. Government had not consulted the people of
Ingwavuma, nor the KwaZulu Territorial Authority.

As Chief Minister of the erstwhile KwaZulu Government, I opposed this vile
plan. Through the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly, I took the issue to the
Natal Supreme Court. Within less than a month the court ruled against the
Government, cancelling its plans. Of course, the Apartheid Government
appealled the ruling. But the Appeals Court in Bloemfontein upheld the
Supreme Court's decision and Ingwavuma remained part of South Africa. This
is part of the legacy of the IFP.

It surprises me that you as people have forgotten what I and the KwaZulu
Government  with Inkatha support did to prevent your being converted into
Swaziland Citizens overnight.  Where was Mrs KaMagwaza-Msibi when I fought
this battle with the apartheid government on your behalf?  Where was the ANC
when I did battle with the apartheid government in order to retain your
citizenship as South Africans?  Why do people of Ingwavuma seem to have such
short memories?  Mrs KaMagwaza-Msibi boasts about her record as the IFP
Mayor when she got marching orders from me and the IFP.  She herself always
never forgot to remind her audience that she was sent by me to do what she
did.  Many people remember her usual message; "I am sent by the Prince."

The sad part is that we have now learnt through the media of the disturbing
allegations that Mrs KaMagwaza-Msibi is using the Zululand Municipality
funds to finance her election campaign.  It is very significant that a
senior member of the ANC Mr Bheki Cele led a protest demonstration last
Friday with members of the ANC Youth League highlighting this allegation
that the leader of the NFP is abusing government money to finance the NFP's
election campaign.  It is not surprising that her bill boards and posters
almost surpass those of the ANC, which has such huge resources.  The irony
is that even the ANC uses state resources to finance their election
campaign.  So it is the question of the pot calling the kettle black.

But it is most interesting that the ANC leader led such a demonstration
while the ANC and the NFP are in  a coalition in governing 19 municipalities
in this province.

It is difficult to imagine how the ANC could have demonstrated against their
coalition partner, if these allegations about this lady's abuse of municipal
funds were untrue.

Were it not for my principled opposition to Government, you would not be
voting on May the 7th. You would not be South African citizens. At the time,
I spoke in the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly and said, "The Swaziland border
issue is a direct outcome of us being voteless. We are too deeply aware of
what befalls voteless people to stick our head into the noose."

That was more than thirty years ago. But the lesson of the past is there. We
are not voteless people. On May the 7th, we will vote. We will make our
voices heard, and we will give to South Africa the leadership it deserves
and so desperately needs: the leadership of the IFP.

The IFP has a vision for South Africa, which we know how to achieve. We want
to see a country in which everyone is free to fulfil their potential, able
to give their contribution, and is respected.

We want to see every child, regardless of where they live, receiving a
quality education in a school that is well-equipped with textbooks, desks,
libraries and laboratories. We want to see every family living in a safe and
decent house, with a flushing toilet linked to a sewerage system. We want to
see those who are willing to work, able to find work; work that is
satisfying and provides an income.

The IFP wants to see the justice system overhauled, from police, to courts,
to prisons, to ensure that crime never pays. We want to see properly trained
police officers, who have the respect of the communties they serve. We want
to restore the rule of law. We want justice.

The IFP wants to get traditional leaders the support they deserve to
administer good governance in their communities. We don't pay lip service to
the institution of traditional leadership, pretending to care about culture
and heritage. We know that our culture makes us who we are, and we are
determined to preserve a social structure that sees governance achieved
through collective wisdom and consensus; for that is democracy.

The IFP wants to grow South Africa's economy, to ensure that our country can
afford the vast social security network it provides to its people, but also
to ensure that we become a developmental state, rather than remaining a
welfare state. Only a stronger economy will support employment generation
and allow us to built the kind of infrastucture South Africa needs.

After being the economic powerhouse of the African continent for so many
decades, under this Government South Africa has taken a back seat to
Nigeria. That has nothing to do with recession or a gloal economic meltdown.
Whatever excuses Governent wants to use, the fact remains that ambiguous
economic policies and poor leadership are eating away at South Africa's
prosperity.

The IFP wants to see every South African able to afford and access quality
healthcare, whenever you need it. We want hospitals that are well managed
and clinics that are propery resourced. No one should have to wait for
treatment for a serious illness, and women should give birth in safe, clean
environments, attended by medical professionals.

The IFP's vision for South Afirca is captured in our election manifesto. But
we have gone one step further, and made a commitment to you about what a
vote for the IFP means. Our manifesto contains practical actions that the
IFP is undertaking to achive our vision. We know that actions speak louder
than words. Like you, the IFP wants to see action. We are a hands-on,
practical party, with solutions, experience and drive.

I urge you to read our manifesto to find out what the IFP can do for you. We
have achieved a great deal in the past and we are able to do much more for
South Africa in this time of moral crisis. But we can only do it in
partnership with you, and on your mandate given through the ballot box.

I therefore ask you to join us. Join a revolution of goodwill. Vote IFP. The
power to change South Africa is in your hands.

The IFP is eager to hear what you have to say. We have a dedicated SMS line
for you to send us your comments on our Party, our country, the elections or
anything else on your mind. SMS the word TALK and your comment to 49199. It
costs just R1,50, and we are listening. You can also join the IFP, by smsing
the word JOIN to the same number, 49199, and one of our leaders will be in
touch.

The next two weeks are a deciding moment for our country. So let's get
talking about what a vote for the IFP can do. Talk IFP in your homes, in
your neighbourhood, on the streets and wherever you go. It's time for South
Africans to ask themselves whether we can afford to continue without a
leadership of integrity. Can we afford a country without the IFP?

The power is yours to restore hope in South Africa. On May the 7th, vote
IFP.

Advertisement

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options
Free daily email newsletter Register Now