The Inkatha Freedom Party will fight these municipal elections on the most seminal issue facing South Africa – the development of all the peoples of South Africa. If the fruits of political emancipation are to be enjoyed and if our constitution and Bill of Rights are to be ‘living’ documents and more than codified noble sentiments, the development of all our people must be urgently secured. Our charter for Development defines our vision for South Africa; our Blue Print for Delivery contains our programme to deliver it.
Since Inkatha’s inception in 1975, we have always been a consistent advocate
of development of all our people by their upliftment and self-reliance.
Development is the very essence of our purpose, and I believe never has it been
so relevant. An early 20th
century British politician said, ‘a political party is a crusade, or it is
nothing at all.’ *
It could be said that as a crusading party of development, our time as come.
First and foremost, I believe that there needs to be a fundamental transformation in the mindset of all South Africans, a collective sense that everyone has a stake in the development of all our people. We need to inculcate a conviction that we have shared interests, a belief that “your interests are my interests – we are on the same side”. It is about realising that people living in KwaMahu or in Msinga and those living in Westville or on the Berea actually do share many of the same interests and have a common stake in building the new South Africa. We are all on the same side, irrespective of colour, station, creed or religion.
We have all experienced the tragic consequences of apartheid manifested in the torn social fabric of our society that cynically pitted groups of people deliberately against each other. As South African turned inwards in the 1970’s and 1980’s, the rest of the world was changing fast. Apartheid left South Africa ill equipped for the accelerating process of globalisation, which has swept away many familiar certainties and is redefining our concept of the community and the nation state.
That said, South Africa as the potential to be a dynamic player in the global economy. It has the richest endowment of mineral resources per capita in the world; it is extremely well located geographically with natural harbours to take advantage of global trade, fertile agricultural land, low population density and easy access to Western markets, capital and technology.
An interesting feature of this process of globalisation and increasing economic interdependency everywhere is that people are yearning to feel that they belong to a greater whole and wish to see a more compassionate and close knit society. As a nation that is seeking to heal the divisions of the past, this yeaning finds a particular resonance here. Individualism today is tempered by the acknowledgement that the individual flourishes within the community. Successful political parties across the political spectrum everywhere are tapping into this idea of communitarianism; they have all found realising it to be more difficult.
In South Africa, core to realising the development of our people and this vision of the community is tackling poverty. Poverty has a chain effect that reverberates throughout society. Of course the person who is hungry, cold, without shelter and lives in fear experiences poverty directly and at worst, but directly or indirectly we all experience its effects. Our charter for Development declares:
"The Inkatha Freedom Party recognises the many difficulties and hardships that face our country and our people believe that working in partnership with our local communities, imbued with the spirit of ubuntu and self help and determined upon our path of development, there are no obstacles that we may not overcome."
The IFP have always recognised that there is a limit on what government alone can achieve. Even with the most ambitious and effectively executed plans the scope of government is circumscribed. However, as local government is the closest sphere of government to the people, it is well placed to assist people to break the chains of poverty.
We believe that what government actually does; it should do well and efficiently. We will constantly look for new solutions and partnerships to enhance the effectiveness of local government. IFP councillors will work with their communities to create a culture of best practise in service provision and will streamline service delivery. For example, it is essential and the right of everyone to have access to clean water. The constitution promises water for all, the right of access to clean water for all households, and adequate sanitation on site. The IFP will require local government to co-ordinate its activities with those of the provincial government to maximise effective water delivery and to promote water wastage reduction.
In housing, working with the provincial authorities, the private sector and local communities, the IFP in local government will develop low cost, high quality housing schemes, in which local people will play a full and productive role In the design and building of. We will advocate people–centred development by maximising the involvement of the community in order that communities become empowered and equipped through the transference of skills to drive their own economic development.
The IFP in local government will also promote the principles of self-help and self-reliance in the rural communities. The IFP led government in KwaZulu Natal has pioneered the Xoshindlala campaign (a Zulu expression that means “To Chase Away Hunger”). Since the campaign was implemented in 1999 a total of 1 022 projects have been planned and implemented. The projects have just over 27 000 participants with about 250 000 beneficiaries. The projections include community gardens to be self-supporting in respect of vegetables and small irrigation schemes to supply water to the gardens. Discussions are also under way to create a share equity plan for the Ndumu A irrigation project, in which farmers will combine forces with their financiers and commercial farmers to form a farming company to manage the project.
The Xoshindlala Campaign is an example of how the IFP in local government promotes partnerships with relevant role players to help create prosperous communities. We will build upon these successes and others to ensure that local government gives people an opportunity to take control over their own lives and be set free from the chains of poverty.
* K Hardy, founder of the British Labour Party