The countdown has begun and it is almost the time when the whole of South Africa shall arrive at their appointment with destiny, when they go to the polls on April 14. It is a time when we, as South Africans, can exercise our right to vote and make a difference, not only for ourselves and for our children, but indeed for the whole of South Africa and our future generations. It is an enormous responsibility, as we are shaping the future and indeed contributing to what will hopefully be one of the most productive and positive chapters in the history of our beloved South Africa. We cannot afford to miss this opportunity. We owe it to ourselves, our children's children, and we owe it to South Africa, and cannot let our country down. It is now or never. We all need to motivate a change for the better and heal our ailing land from the five main illnesses, that are threatening to smother our country and destroy any hope of a brighter future.

I do not wish to sound pessimistic however, if we do not produce a total turnaround at the election polls, it might very well be the case that we will be doomed to another five years of the same, or maybe even worse. We need to act now, and ensure that those who have brought us nothing more than empty promises, are called upon to be held accountable and are cut down to a size which allows our true democracy to flourish, and blossom into what we have worked so hard to achieve during the past years.

I have been in South Africa all my life. I have been in politics for over fifty years. I have maintained a dialogue with the people of South Africa for a very long time. I am here today because I have served the people of South Africa for fifty years, and I have maintained with them a constant dialogue. I am here to voice the anxieties, concerns and expectations of the South African people who have come to me, and are relying upon me to bring about the change that our country so desperately needs.

The next elections are just seven days away. These elections are indeed going to be more important than any other ones held in South Africa in recent times. They must be the time when the voice of the South African people is going to be heard. We are addressing the real issues which the South African people are voicing, and we can no longer ignore these issues or pretend that they are not as important as they really are. We all know these five issues only too well as they are all affecting us either directly or indirectly. These are the issues of HIV/Aids, crime, corruption, poverty and unemployment.

HIV/Aids is killing our people by the hundreds of thousands and has become a pandemic of such magnitude, that we are all directly or indirectly affected by it. The Government thus far has provided very little in the form of either assistance or relief, and has downplayed the magnitude of this scourge for far too long. We still, to this day, do not have answers as to why anti-retroviral drugs have not as yet been fully rolled out. There are standard solutions to begin dealing with HIV/Aids however, the ANC Government has dragged its heels and has only provided small doses of what is so desperately needed. This can no longer be tolerated. South Africa needs a new leadership, with the political will to lead the war against HIV/Aids. The IFP has put forward sound policies to address HIV/Aids. We want to prevent the further spreading of this disease, and we want to put a stop to the suffering of the young children, who are robbed in their formative years, of often both their parents. This is heartbreaking, and yet the ANC Government continues to allow our people to be condemned to premature death, because of the lack of the political will to bring about the change that it so desperately needs. Now is the time when the South African people should make their voice heard, to demand stronger action in respect of HIV/Aids.

I find it very disheartening to know that there are those who wish to turn this election away from what the South African people want it to be. The ANC has advocated that this be a celebration of our ten years of democracy, so as to ensure that the election could be run on the strength of the same euphoria of liberation, which characterized the elections of 1994 and 1999.

However, this is not what the South African people want. I am not saying that the anniversary of ten years of democracy is not an important event for us. Indeed it it is however, as far as I am concerned, our struggle for true liberation has only just begun because South Africa is not free as long as it has the problems of HIV/Aids, crime, corruption, poverty and unemployment hanging over it like a black cloud, threatening to burst, and flood our land forever. We are all ready to celebrate our liberation however, we need to focus on the future at this juncture, and not the past.

The issue of crime is yet another serious concern which could have, and should have been addressed many, many years ago. Crime has reached such a magnitude that I know of no person who has not either been a victim of crime, or lives in the constant fear of becoming one. Again the IFP put forward standard proposals to address this problem. We need a better equipped, better trained, and better paid police force, with a much larger judiciary. This will ensure that the criminals are caught, tried and sentenced, holding them fully accountable for their actions. Unfortunately, most criminals are well aware of the process and know that more than likely they will merely get away with it. The mere fact that crime has reached this magnitude, is a major crime in itself, as it has been an almost direct result on the rising levels of poverty within rural areas. So much more could have been done to curb the rising wave of crime, if the ANC Government agreed to the suggestions of having many more policemen available in each community.

Corruption has been crime's ugly partner for far too long and we have all read the numerous scandals that have covered the front pages of our newspapers for many, many months. These scandals eventually merely fizzled out, and no-one was truly held accountable. Due to the perception of impunity, corruption has been allowed to reach the level it has, spreading its ugly tentacles into many corners of our society and government. So much more could have been done and was not done to bring to book the perpetrators, and create examples by prosecuting them. We cannot continue like this and what kind of example is being set when one merely has to read about all the scandals in the paper and know, sadly, that at the end of the day, nothing is going to happen to the guilty parties as the political will to bring about true change, is simply not there.

So much more could have been done to create employment. Again the IFP has put forward clear proposals on how to create employment, and place our economy on an accelerated rate of growth. This has been ignored and the ANC has reacted to the problems of the rising levels of unemployment by holding conferences, summits and workshops which produced very little, if any, results. This is not the way to solve our country's problems. We need to implement drastic measures as soon as possible and deal with the problems of HIV/Aids, poverty, corruption, crime and unemployment in an effective and decisive manner. The time for talking is over.

The South African people want action. The IFP is a party of action. We identified the need of privatising our entire parastatal to increase economic efficiency. We promoted privatization and the need to create more flexibility in the labour market, so as to ensure that any disincentive is removed for employers to employ people. The IFP has a long-term vision to provide South Africa with an industrial basis, so that we may know today what type of products we will be contributing to the world markets in twenty years. We need to compete on an international basis in the age of globalization, and remember that the world does not owe us a living.

The IFP identified the need of promoting a Green Revolution to make South Africa the true delicatessen basket of the world, so as to produce high added value agricultural products, for export to the most affluent countries of the northern hemisphere. We only need to look at countries such as Israel, who is producing high added value agricultural products on very little land, which are distributed throughout Europe and North America, to see that these policies make total sense and one can equate it to an assurance for the future. This is what South Africa needs. We need to have assurance that our future can indeed be better than our present and be free from the grave problems of HIV/Aids, corruption, crime, unemployment and poverty. South Africa deserves better and it is our responsibility to bring about the best we again through the next election.

The next few days will separate us from the fateful day of election. It is incumbent on all South Africans of goodwill to do everything we can to focus public attention on the real issues. The ANC has tried to run this election on spurious issues, so as to confuse the South African people and distract them away from the real issues. Indeed the ANC has used tools of mass distraction and confusion. By this blatant denial of what the real issues are they have not only insulted the South African people, who trusted them in the first place but they have also insulted their intellect, thereby challenging the South African people who now need to show them that they are not a bunch of sheep who possibly follow their leader. The ANC has tried to turn this election into an ideological context, introducing in our debates European terminologies, which have little to do with the real problems and aspirations of our people. The used labels such as right-wing and left-wing, which are a way of running away from the real issues. They have also introduced this great controversy about the Immigration Regulations, right on the eve of elections, turning a technical matter into a political one. There has been an escalation of strategies of mass distraction and confusion.

I have been accused of protecting white interests when, in talking about HIV/Aids, corruption, crime, unemployment and poverty, I am obviously referring to problems which affect each and every group, segment and community of our country. It is important that at the next election the electorate shows the ANC that it is the people of our country which choose what issues are important, and not the politicians. As I walked around the breadth and length of South Africa, I have had everyone mentioning to me the five issues of HIV/Aids, corruption, crime, unemployment and poverty. No-one spoke to me about right-wings and left-wings, liberalism or conservatism, or any other ideological connotation, because the people of this country know very well that ideology does not feed our children, or pay for their education and upbringing.

The issues of HIV/Aids, corruption, crime, unemployment and poverty are real. Ideologies are not. I have created a democratic alternative with the Democratic Alliance to ensure that after these elections there can be a pool of forces, who are capable of giving credence to our hope for a better South Africa. South Africa does not need to remain a country of mediocrity, in which the problems of HIV/Aids, corruption, crime, unemployment and poverty remain a constant feature.

We do not want our children to inherit HIV/Aids, corruption, crime, unemployment and poverty but rather that they should inherit from our generation the dream of a society to come, which will forever be free of these problems.

Our democracy is under severe threat. When the ruling class runs away from real issues, and no longer listens to the voice of its people, the doors become wide open to tyranny. I am concerned that many South Africans are not motivated to vote. A bad government is elected by good people who did not vote. It is essential that in the next few hours between now an elections, everyone motivates everyone else to vote. If the South African people wish to have a government that cares for them, they must show that they themselves care about making their voice heard. If the next elections return a result which does not change anything, the next government will not be much dissimilar from what we now have. We need a government that cares and listens. For this reason our people must make their voice heard at the elections and there is no better way than doing so than voting for the IFP.

The stronger the IFP at the next elections, the more caring the next government will be. Each vote counts, and it is essential to make one's own vote count the most. One needs to make it in favour of a party which can make a difference. The IFP can make a difference. We have the power and we have the political will to make a difference. Together with our partners, the Democratic Alliance, we have developed many of the solutions to the problems of HIV/Aids, corruption, crime, unemployment and poverty. We will promote the implementation of these solutions after the next elections, whether we are the government or not. Therefore, the stronger the IFP, the stronger will the possibility be of making such solutions a reality.

This is the time when the South African people must have the courage to produce change and progress. We must not be tricked by the euphoria of the tenth anniversary of the celebration of our liberation. Many things have gone right in the past ten years, and there have been great achievements in our country. However, many things have also gone wrong, and they are not going to get themselves right, unless those who got them going wrong in the first place, receive a powerful wake-up call at the next elections. I have done my part and I am ready to ring the wake-up call. However, it is now for the South African people to do their part, and for all of you to do your part, for the next few days to the elections. We need to make sure that everyone has transport and that as many people as possible can go to the voting stations.

I feel that in the next few days everyone has the responsibility of asking everyone else he knows, whether they are voting and if they are told that they are not, they need to convince them not only to vote themselves, but also to convince others to do the same. Many people do not wish to vote because they have lost hope, and they do not see what the government can do for them . However, this is the very reason why they should be voting and why they must vote for the IFP. I care. I am committed to making the voice of the South African people heard. I have been in politics for more than fifty years, which I have spent amongst the South African people, serving them. I regard politics as a service to the people. I am known and a tested quantity and quality for the South African people. I know the South African people and they know me. I am ready to do my part in the next five years, but I need to have the maximum support the South African people can now muster.