MEDIA STATEMENT
BY THE
INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY
IFP President : Liberation Incomplete Without Economic Freedom
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Liberation is incomplete without economic freedom, IFP President Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi tells a rally in Umtata today, arguing that wealth creation is a more sustainable basis for poverty alleviation than mere wealth redistribution. "We cannot wage the war against poverty by simply dividing the existing pie up. We need to bake a much bigger pie for all our people to share. This can only be achieved by growing the economy and investing in our skills base," said Prince Buthelezi. While the IFP shares with the ANC many of the policies designed to improve the living standards of the poor, including improved infrastructure, a streamlined grant system, and improved healthcare, Prince Buthelezi is looking beyond what he sees as short-term measures. "In the long term, the IFP aims to equip the poor with the skills to build for themselves a better life, by way of improved education and resuscitated rural agriculture to ensure food security and sustainable livelihoods," he said. The IFP, given its solid track record in government in KwaZulu-Natal, now aspires to lead in other provinces. "We aspire to lead South Africa into a second wave of democratic renewal, deepening democracy and spreading prosperity among our people. In this second wave, economic freedom must follow political freedom," said Prince Buthelezi. Prince Buthelezi has dismissed the ANC government in the Eastern Cape as big on promises but small on delivery. "The local people want a government that is serious about service delivery. The IFP in government in KwaZulu Natal has demonstrated that it was willing to take difficult decisions, and we will not flinch from doing so again in the future," he said. Prince Buthelezi referred to the decision of the IFP-led KwaZulu Natal provincial government to champion the rollout of anti-retrovirals against the wishes of the ANC government in Pretoria. "In 2002, we instructed the former Premier of KwaZulu Natal, Dr LPHM Mtshali to roll out anti-retroviral drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV in defiance of the national health minister. We did it for the simple reason that it was the right thing to do," said Prince Buthelezi. Prince Buthelezi, stressing his local
credentials as former student at Fort Hare and former ANC Youth
League member, said that he was not an outsider presuming to
come and save the Eastern Cape from the ANC. "The Eastern Cape
is intimately tied up with the liberation struggle of South
Africa. But there is more to the liberation struggle than the
ANC cares to admit. Liberation is incomplete without economic
freedom," said Prince Buthelezi. Contact: |
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