Thank you, Secretary General, for that kind introduction and for introducing our
team in the Western Cape. We are proud to be working with such capable and
experienced people, who offer their leadership to the communities of Cape Town.

I regret that we are deprived of two key members of our team in the Western
Cape. The Hon. Mr Ben Skosana, whom many of you may have known as a former
Minister of Correctional Services and a long-serving Member of Parliament,
passed away quite unexpectedly in February this year. Mr Skosana served
faithfully in the Western Cape for many years.

Then my Media Officer and one of our youngest Members of Parliament, the Hon. Ms
Liezl van der Merwe, who has been so instrumental in mobilising support in this
area, took ill last week and is not able to join us this evening. I know how
much work Ms van der Merwe has put into our campaign here, and how disappointed
she is to miss this evening’s discussion.

 

Nevertheless, it is a pleasure for us to be in Durbanville this evening, just
two weeks away from the 7 May 2014 elections. The coming elections will see the
power to decide the future of our country placed squarely where it belong; in
your hands. The outcome of these elections will affect you and your family. They
will affect the community of Durbanville, and all the communities of Cape Town.
It is therefore critical that you consider your vote carefully, and vote for
partners you can trust.

 

The IFP believes in governance through partnership, and governance from the
ground up. During constitutional negotiations, before 1994, we fought hard to
focus attention on the form of state of a democratic South Africa. We believed
that democracy would be best served under a federal system, which allowed people
from very diverse circumstances, in very different places, to tailor their own
solutions to their specific problems.

 

In contrast, the ANC preferred to push for a centralised system of governance,
where all the power is held at the top, in the hands of a few, and
one-size-fits-all policies are sent down on a conveyor belt system to be
implemented unquestioningly by officials and bureaucrats. The IFP’s fight to
prevent this, by determining the form of state in advance, was one of the key
issues that led to the IFP withdrawing from the 1994 elections.

 

During negotiations, it became apparent that there was no intention to discuss
such critical issues. When Dr Henry Kissinger’s team of international mediators
sought to redraft the Interim Constitution to address the issue of the form of
state, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa and Mr Roelf Meyer collapsed international mediation
and sent them packing. The ANC and the National Party then held a bosberaad and
decided that whatever they agreed upon bilaterally would constitute “sufficient
consensus”. At that point, the IFP withdrew.

 

We represented millions of South Africans and an election that went ahead
without the IFP could never have been considered an inclusive expression of the
will of the people. It was only eight days before the 1994 elections that the
IFP agreed to return and contest the elections, based on a Solemn Agreement
signed by then President FW de Klerk, Mr Nelson Mandela and myself. We agreed to
resume international mediation immediately after the elections to deal with the
outstanding issues.

 

With only eight days to campaign, the IFP was at a disadvantage. Our logo was
added to the end of the ballot paper by hand, in the form of a sticker. Yet on
the 27th of April 1994, we gained more than two million votes. Our
uncompromising fight for the interests of South Africa garnered much support
among people of goodwill and the IFP’s reputation as a leadership of integrity
was entrenched in the public mind.

 

When President Mandela failed to honour the Solemn Agreement on international
mediation, it opened the way for problems in governance. But the IFP continued
to serve in the Government of National Unity, on the mandate of the electorate,
knowing that we needed to keep government on the right path. I am proud of the
contribution that the IFP made to the first democratic government of our
country.

 

Of course, we had entered democracy with experience in governance, for Inkatha
administered the erstwhile KwaZulu Government for 19 years under the harshest
conditions of Apartheid. Our track record of good governance from that era
speaks for itself.

 

Ours were the only schools in the whole of the country that opened on time and
saw learners being educated in a disciplined environment. Across South Africa
young people were heeding the call of the ANC’s mission-in-exile to burn down
their schools and abandon education. But in KwaZulu, Inkatha juxtaposed that
call with the slogan “Education For Liberation”, knowing that knowledge was the
best leverage we could give the next generation with which to overthrow
ignorance, despair and oppression.
In the 19 years I served as Chief Minister of KwaZulu, never once was a single
allegation of corruption ever levelled at my administration. Corruption was
unheard of, because we understood that we were there to serve a great need and a
great cause, and the leadership of Inkatha would never countenance
self-enrichment or self-interest.

 

The national government in Pretoria despised me, because I refused to accept
so-called nominal independence for KwaZulu, derailing the grand scheme of
apartheid to balkanise South Africa. Their resentment, coupled with the low
value they placed on developing the oppressed people of KwaZulu, led to the
shoestring budget we were given with which to meet the vast and overwhelming
needs.

 

Yet we managed to partner with communities and, through that partnership, we
built more than 6000 schools, countless houses and clinics and roads. We trained
women and young people to start cooperatives and community development projects.
We funded entrepreneurs and sustained small businesses. We invested in
subsistence farming and we taught the value of self-help and self-reliance.

 

We also added a subject to the school curriculum called Ubuntu Botho, which was
effectively training towards good citizenship. We were preparing a generation of
young people to become responsible, competent and active participants in a
liberated South Africa. Too many young people were being trained in the art of
war at the behest of the ANC’s mission-in-exile. Inkatha was deeply concerned
that those who would lead a democratic country, once liberation was achieved,
should be skilled, educated and disciplined. They should know more than the
barrel of the gun and the religion of entitlement.

 

I am giving you this background because I want you to understand where the IFP
comes from. We are a party of integrity, solutions, experience and action. We
are a party of discipline and strong principles. And we are a party that fights
hard for your right to be at the heart of the process of governance.

 

It is because of the IFP’s fight at the negotiating table that South Africa has
provinces today. It is because of the IFP that our Constitution grants
legislative competence to provinces, to develop their own policies and their own
solutions on a list of issues, ranging from education to environmental
conservation.

 

The IFP used this legislative competence in the first ten years of democracy
when we governed KwaZulu Natal, and we created a hub of industry in that
province. We designed the first special industrial zones, which the National
Development Plan now proposes as a national solution to South Africa’s economic
decline, twenty years into democracy. This is not the only economic policy on
which the IFP has led the way.

 

There are policies in other spheres of governance where we were also pioneers.
In the fight against HIV/Aids, for instance, the IFP rolled out anti-retrovirals
in clinics throughout KwaZulu Natal to prevent mother-to-child transmission of
HIV. We saved thousands of lives. But our success also enabled us to join the
Treatment Action Campaign in a Constitutional Court case which ended with
national government being instructed to fulfil its constitutional mandate to
protect the right to life, just as the IFP was doing.

 

Nevertheless, even with these victories under our belt, we have not seen
provinces tap the full potential of their legislative competence even twenty
years into democracy. Much more could be done by provinces to give people
something better than a one-size-fits-all policy from the top. Much more could
have been done in the Western Cape, considering that this is the only province
not under the direct control of the ruling party.

 

Undoubtedly, there are some things that are done much better in the Western Cape
than they are anywhere else in South Africa. I live in Cape Town for the better
part of the week whenever Parliament is sitting, and I know that if the lights
go off or the water supply is interrupted, I can call the municipality and get
an answer. That doesn’t happen everywhere, I can assure you! But I know that it
doesn’t happen everywhere in the Western Cape either.

 

There is still vast inequality in the Western Cape, with the haves and the
have-nots living side by side. There has been much criticism by the ruling party
of the DA’s approach to governance in this province, for it is believed that
certain communities are favoured while others are neglected. There is a dog
fight in this province between the ANC and DA, and now the EFF is climbing on
board.

 

But in the midst of it all, there is serene alternative that knows how to govern
with integrity and competence; a party that understands your needs and respects
your voice. The IFP is a constructive opposition. We don’t point out the
problems and the failures of our opponents. We point to the solutions and we
work, in partnership with the people we serve, to implement those solutions.

 

I am aware that there are many people in the Western Cape, particularly in this
community, that feel the provincial government is acting arrogantly and without
regard for the people. There is undoubtedly a sense that the DA does just as it
pleases, without consulting the people they are meant to serve. There have been
instances of provincial government siding with the interests of big business and
those with deep pockets, at the expense of agricultural land, community spaces
and this province’s natural and cultural heritage.

 

I will leave it to our Premier candidate, Mr Len Swimmer, to speak about Uitcamp
and similar fights that communities have had to launch against a provincial
government that just isn’t listening.For my part, I want to ask you to ask
yourself three questions as we approach the May 2014 elections. Are your
representatives honest? Are they reliable? Have they served your needs?

 

May the 7th is the time to choose a leadership of integrity. It is the moment to
close the door on corruption and on those who arrogantly believe that they know
better than you when it comes to serving the needs of your family, your
community and your province. Why should you be dictated to? That is not
democracy. Democracy brings governance closer to the people and requires leaders
to serve the will of the people.

 

The IFP understands democracy. We respect your right to design solutions and we
take responsibility for implementing those solutions in partnership with you. We
are here to serve your needs.

 

South Africa is at a precarious point in its history. Somehow government has
lost the moral compass and corruption has spread like a cancer. But those who
claim to oppose all that is wrong in government seem adept only at exposing
failures and claiming high moral ground that has yet to be proven.

 

The IFP, on the other hand, has earned the trust of South Africans. We have been
in governance and we have led the opposition. We have seen the challenges of our
country from both perspectives, and we know how to meet these challenges with
bold solutions.

 

I encourage you to read the IFP’s election manifesto to find out more about what
the IFP is doing for you. We have set out a vision for the South Africa we want
to achieve. But we have also listed practical actions that we are taking, and
will continue to take, on your behalf, to create that better country.

 

A revolution of goodwill starts with you. This is not a violent revolution that
tears down, destroys and divides. It is a revolution of hope and positive
action. It is a revolution being driven by the IFP to heal our nation and
reinstate integrity in government. I hope you will join the revolution. Join the
IFP.

 

Let us be your voice in the provincial legislature of the Western Cape, because
someone needs to stand up for you when those in power run rough-shod over your
interests. Let us be the watchdog in the Western Cape, holding provincial
government to account and ensuring that your needs are put first.

 

Let us fight on your behalf and carry your cause into government. The power is
yours to strengthen the IFP so that we can help you. On May the 7th, vote IFP.
The power is yours.