The New Year 2008 is rich in challenges but opportunities, too. 

The message that came out of Polokwane loud and clear last year was that ordinary South Africans are not satisfied with the pace and substance of service delivery as we have witnessed it since 1994. I believe people are fed up with seeing politicians and public servants being driven around in expensive cars surveying what needs to be done without ever intending to do it. 

In addition to the perennial challenges of poverty, disease and crime, the public sector inaction of the past thirteen years has created problems of its own. The failures and backlogs in the provision of housing, health care and education have called into question the very policy foundations of these government-sponsored initiatives. 

As an opposition party, the IFP will be looking towards the next political forum where the shattered orthodoxies of central government can be challenged and replaced with a fresh, hands-on approach. The largely inefficient central government has left behind inadequate schools, hospitals, police stations and housing projects. All too often, it has not been the question of resources but of priorities and the physical capacity and a commitment to deliver. 

There is a real chance that the next election will result in a fresh hands-on government in KwaZulu Natal. In order to bring this about, the people of the province and South Africa will need to abandon the political party with policies that clearly have not worked and elect one with policies that will. 

The IFP aspires further than a government which provides services on an arbitrary, unfair and undignified basis. The IFP aspires further than a government which uses the people’s tax money to control them and bind them in gratitude to the party that administers the province. The IFP aspires to run KwaZulu Natal in 2009 better than the ANC is running it now. 

Dr Lionel Mtshali MPP
Leader of the Official Opposition

Contact: Dr Lionel Mtshali, 083 256 4902