Today we stand together on the threshold of a new era. We are winding up another year and considering what we have achieved, what we wish we had achieved and what we could have achieved. For some of us, our spirits are flagging. But tomorrow is fast approaching and we need to get ourselves into the right frame of mind today to enter what is bound to be a turbulent and exciting time in the history of South Africa. At this year's conference of the IFP Youth Brigade, let us prepare ourselves for that future by saying what needs to be said.

At this year's annual general conference, I announced that South Africa is in a crisis. This is a fact. We are in a crisis of leadership, a crisis of moral integrity at the highest levels, and a crisis of inadequate delivery and poor governance. This crisis is highlighted by the fact that we are gearing up for national elections in 2009, while the ruling party is escalating its torrid succession debate that has seen personalities dominating over issues. The interests of South Africa have been sidelined while the country's President battles it out with ANC presidential hopeful, Mr Jacob Zuma. The lines are drawn and next week the ANC will choose its next President.

The tension in South Africa is palpable as political analysts, academics and ordinary people question who our country's next President will be and what the final outcome of the bruising contest will be. How will the world see South Africa in the next year and how will we see ourselves?

Is the divisiveness we have witnessed during this succession debate likely to spill over into our general population? I am reminded of the warning of Christ in Matthew 12 verse 25: "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand."

Somehow all of these questions and concerns have us sidetracked from the real issues. The problems facing South Africa have not changed. Poverty still exists. HIV/AIDS still haunts us. Unemployment remains a threat.

Service delivery is still too slow and is hampered by corruption, a lack of political will and the politics of power struggles. Good governance is lacking. Education is in crisis. Skills growth is inadequate, while skills loss continues. Access to social services remains troubled by dysfunctional systems and poor administration. Crime remains rampant and violence is an ever-growing threat in our homes, on our streets, in our schools, workplaces and communities. There are problems with housing, problems with illegal immigration, problems with the electricity supply, problems with food security, problems with welfare and problems with health. We are indeed in a crisis.  For the youth throughout the history of man have always been the spear-head in the tackling of any crisis, whether it is war or development of a country.

In the history of mankind there are phases in which history takes its own time. This is a phase of transition from the struggle for liberation and post-liberation euphoria, to facing up to the real issue of building a better society. In this phase, the key is survival. The most important contribution the IFP's youth can make in the midst of this crisis is to embrace the philosophy of survival and transform it into a force for revival. The IFP Youth Brigade needs to bring new inspiration to our nation.  The youth in any situation encapsulates the hopes of the nation. They represent the vigour and vibrancy of the nation.

Perhaps the greatest crisis we face is the threat of despair. With a lack of leadership from the ruling party comes a lack of direction for our country. It is almost as if we have been asked to stand still and wait while the ANC attends to its internal household chores. But South Africa cannot wait. We must keep fighting to survive. If we stand still, the crisis will sweep over us and we may all drown. The IFP is a party of action, not words, not ideologies, not power struggles. The IFP Youth has a legacy of leadership rooted in action. And now is the time to act.

We are all in the mould of uncertainty on the eve of a general election.

This however is not a time for words but it is time for action.  The lead as far as action is given by the youth who as I have already stated represent the vigour and vibrancy of the nation.

What our youth achieved recently in two local situations was most inspiring to the rest of us.  I am referring here to the way SADESMO was triumphant in the local structure of Student government elections at the University of Zululand and at the Mangosuthu University of Technology.

If the members of SADESMO did not know the formula for success within an electoral contest they would not have done so well at these two institutions.  It was not just rhetoric only which won them the seats that they won, but action.  The formula for success in an election is not complicated.  It is simple and a matter of simple arithmetic.

Elections are won through votes and the Party that scores more than the others becomes winner.  What of our situation in South Africa in the situation we face.  The Party needs votes to win the elections.  So the first hurdle is to have people who buy in, in large numbers, in what the Party stands for.  So first and foremost is recruitment of others to our way of thinking by persuading them in large numbers to join our Party.

Once that is done we have to check if each of our members who are eligible to vote do have Identity Documents.  This is a long process.

Recently the new Director-General of Home Affairs stated that it takes 100 days to process an ID.  He then said that they now aim at reducing this to 80 days.  Even this is a long time.  What does that tell us?  It tells us that we cannot regard getting IDs for ourselves and others we have recruited as something to do at the last moment.

Once we are over that hurdle, then there is the process of registration.

It is good for our morale to show our solidarity and to sing and chant our slogans.  But this does not win elections.  It may be good for inspiring us to work harder for the Party, that's all.  The last survey showed that there are 11 million South Africans who were eligible to vote who did not vote during the last elections.  This trend is getting worse with every election.  I realise that even in the 2004 elections we had to try and inspire many amongst our youth who because of frustrations that are caused by unemployment and several problems that are facing our youth are overwhelmed by the despondency that creeps in.

I keep on telling the story of our 2004 elections.

As I was still the Minister of Home Affairs which works closely with IEC, I had a number of reports from officials which indicated to one that in a place like the Durban Metro that there were less IFP members who were registering than members of the ruling Party.  In other words, the ruling Party was registering voters in droves, while the IFP members were not registering.  That is why our members on seeing successful Conferences that we have such as this one, then think just our demonstrating our solidarity alone will translate into votes.  That is absolutely tragic that the penny does not seem to drop as far as the absolute necessity to register people who are likely to vote for us well ahead of the actual day of the elections.  You have heard how long it takes to get an Identity Document and this makes it absolutely imperative to help as many comrades as possible to get IDs.

This means a concerted action to do just that, if we have any hope that our Party will regain lost ground.  There are very simple actions that we need to take if we want to win.  We cannot wait until a few months before we attend to these things and then run helter-skelter just a few days before the day of the election.

The time for action that we are talking about is now.  There are many things that should have been done yesterday, that we are not doing anything about nearly just 15 months before the general election of 2009.

In the past, the IFP Youth Brigade rejected the ideologies of the armed struggle, of making townships ungovernable and destroying the black education system. The IFP Youth refused to become part of a lost generation. Today we must again reject empty ideologies and opt for action, action and action. In a situation of crisis everyone needs to take their position and here the position of the youth must be that of creating a way for the regeneration of South Africa. Today there is a renewed threat of a lost generation developing, and the IFP's youth must work hard not to become part of it.

The next lost generation is going to be that of a people without hope.

In the past, many of our country's youths were denied quality education.

When I was the erstwhile Chief Minister of KwaZulu I witnessed how the national government allocated less resources to education in KwaZulu than to any other province. Not only were our poorest communities suffering under racial discrimination, but under the added hardship of inequality of opportunity. How could young people hope to secure a good job when their education system left them practically illiterate and certainly ill-equipped to become productive participants in our society?

Today, young people wonder how they can hope to secure a good job when unemployment is high and jobs are hard to come by. Many young people feel their education has failed them, even if it has been a good education.  Some feel that school has been a waste of time, because it doesn't automatically lead to university entrance, a degree or diploma, and a stable income that will allow them to buy a home, own a car and raise a family in financial security. By now, everyone in this room has been divested of that particular vision. We know that few school leavers enter university. Few university entrants graduate. Few graduates secure well paying jobs. And the few who are employed need to support many who are not as fortunate or determined.

I qualify the statement that those who are employed are fortunate, by also saying that they are determined, because I know that it takes a great deal of effort and hard work to secure and keep a job. I believe that many more of our country's youth can complete school and can pursue higher education. I believe more of our young people can upgrade their skills.

More can become entrepreneurs. More can create jobs for others. More can enter politics and lead their peers. More can get involved in finding solutions to the problems in their own neighbourhoods. More can fight crime. More can decide to live with integrity. More can avoid drugs and alcohol. There is much more that many of our youth can do. But the responsibility to do it rests with you. No one is going to hand you a rosy future on a silver platter. Survival is a struggle you simply must engage.

Again I know that this year has been a year of many crises that have bitten our youth very hard.  We know that during the civil servants strike that there was virtually no teaching in most of our Schools.  We know that week-ends were used to try and make up for several school days that were not used for the education of our youth.  That in itself indicated what a crisis situation we find ourselves in these days.  That experience which our youth had of no schooling for so long is something which was unprecedented.  Even during the dark days of apartheid when the ideologues of Apartheid tried to ram down faulty education down the throats of our children, we in this organisation implored our youth not to abandon even that flawed system of education.  We are anxious to see the matric results to judge the extent to which the education of our children was compromised by the Educators' strike.

We have had a terrible culture of violence in our Schools which we need to do something about.  Today we have a terrible situation where learners assault and even kill Educators.  We have a situation which is getting out of hand where learners kill other learners.  We are in a crisis situation. And if there is going to be any remedy for all these ills, it should come from within our youth themselves.  No one can impose it from outside.

It is the same situation even when it comes to the abuse of alcohol and the use of drugs by our youth, whether they are learners or out of School. There needs to be some introspection even when it comes to these problems of addiction.  In fact it is a basic rule in rehabilitation situations that the person afflicted by an addiction is the one that must come upfront and ask for help.  Even collectively, the youth themselves will be the ones who should be in the forefront of seeking a solution to these afflictions.  Impositions just do not work at all.  I know that our youth are often confused when one talks to them about our beliefs in self-help and self-reliance.  There is too much pursuit of wealth as a by product of Black-Economic Empowerment.  I know how confusing it must be to see one's peers wearing Gucci shoes and designer suits and dresses to pay attention to self-help and self-reliance as the only route out of the helplessness that is often the lot of our youth.

The challenges may have increased, but the struggle is the same as it always was. It can be won the same way; through self-help and self-reliance. The IFP's youth must lead the way in creating initiatives that will generate work where there seems to be no work. There is always something that can be done, and it is only by helping our country that our youth will be able to help themselves.

I realise of course that our youth need our helping hands as adults, even when it comes to the tackling of these self-help and self-reliance projects.  I know that the level of cronyism is very high to the extent that oligarchs of the wealthy are growing by day and creating more confusion in the minds of our youth.

There is a much broader struggle now as the struggle for survival is becoming global. South Africa must compete in productivity with all other nations of the world. There is also a global skills shortage and the skills we need are the same skills other countries are trying to attract. It is vital that our education system becomes geared towards producing the skills South Africa needs. We must ensure that our school leavers are well-informed, competent, employable and already on the right track. There is just no more time to waste.

There is lack of cohesion amongst us as the previously disadvantaged communities.  We know that the solidarity that we wish for our Country is far from being achieved.  I think it is our youth who should do all they can to point out some of the things which alienate youth, for example white, Coloured and Indian youth.  If we look around here, we do not see many Indian, white or Coloured youth.  We know that some of the things that make some of them to emigrate with skills is the manner that BEE and Affirmative action are implemented.  We support both, but we as IFP signed a memorandum of understanding with the white Trade Union of SOLIDARITY, that while we support these policies we believe that they need a re-look if we are not going to exacerbate the problem of lack of skills in our Country.

I recently had a meeting with the Minister for Education, Honourable Ms Pandor, to discuss certain changes in the school curriculum which aim to give learners a variety of possible truths without dictating anything absolute. I think this is a dangerous pursuit and one which must be approached with caution. I was particularly concerned by seeing a history text book that portrayed my role and that of the IFP in a very negative light. The book used a cartoon to depict a biased account of the low intensity civil war which claimed the lives of so many IFP supporters in the run up to our first democratic elections. A cartoonist's viewpoint was offered as historic fact and the truth about South Africa's history was simply expunged with a wink and a nod. I appreciate that the Minister undertook to distribute a letter to schools warning them of the potential bias in this textbook.  This is an example which should alert our IFP Youth to this kind of 'doctored' history which is bound to be used as propaganda against our Party in the 2009 elections.

It is deeply concerning that learners may be taught things which are simply not true. But it is also worrying that, in many schools, very little is actually being taught. We have all read reports of teacher absenteeism, lateness and even drunkenness. We have also heard reports about sexual abuse of learners at the hands of their teachers.

Travelling through this province, and across South Africa, we can see schools that are dilapidated, schools where there is no discipline and no parent involvement, schools where gangs rule and weapons are brought onto school grounds. Moreover, the quality gap between urban and rural schools seems to be growing.

The IFP supports quality education for all and equal opportunities for all South Africa's children. A poor quality education can cripple a young person's future, removing the hope of a tertiary education and even rendering them unemployable. I know that there are many teachers who are hard working and completely dedicated. They continue to instil discipline and respect for education and are indeed leaving a legacy for our youth.

Many of this year's matric students have a teacher to thank for providing extra lessons to help them catch up with work that was delayed during the extended wage negotiations and teacher strikes that we saw this year. The IFP must thank every teacher who went the extra mile and congratulate every learner who completed matric during this difficult year. I believe we must support salary increases for teachers, coupled with transparent performance assessments of teachers, principals and schools.

A reform of our education system must be done with the goal of innovation and we can look to examples of international best practice in this regard. I would like to see greater contributions made by civil society to education in South Africa. But recent experience warns us that donor funding must always be tracked and transparently reported.

Tenders and contracts must also be run with the utmost transparency to guard against abuse. When funding is abused, it is ultimately our young people that suffer.

I would also like to see better quality educational programmes going out from our public broadcaster. The SABC has regrettably shown significant party political bias, and I have spoken of this on numerous occasions.

Public broadcasting must not only be unbiased and fair, but should also offer something of social value. The television programmes our country's young people are exposed to often tend to highlight only the negative.

Violence is extreme. Drug abuse is rampant. Sexual promiscuity is made the norm. The argument is that this depicts reality, but I fear that it is rather helping to create a reality that we will deeply regret.   It is sad that there is no sensitivity about this while the flames of HIV/AIDS are raging and continue to consume the very youth, who should be the extension of the nation.

Deciding what is morally acceptable is a task that should not be left up to television script writers and music artists. It is the role of responsible young leaders. It is the role of the IFP's youth. One of the best places to make a difference and lead the way is in politics. The great challenge for the IFP's youth in the coming year is to mobilise people to stay actively engaged in politics and to register and vote.

There is a growing defeatist attitude, particularly among young people, who fail to see the point in voting. You, here in this room, must change that mindset. You must tell people wherever you go that the future can still be changed and that each of us can make a difference. You must avoid becoming a generation of bystanders, defeated and without hope.

When Bantu Education was imposed on our youth, we in this organisation resisted the route of boycotting education merely because it was flawed.

We encouraged our youth to use even the unfair facilities which were available then, than miss having any education at all.  That decision paid dividends for our nation.

Right in the midst of South Africa's leadership crisis, the IFP's youth must become our leaders. Where there seem to be no plans, ideology or mission emanating from the ruling party, the IFP's youth must drive the vision of our Party to become relevant to the whole of South Africa. We may not be the biggest party, but we can surely be the best option for a country that needs action. We are a party of action, a party of results and a party with a proven track record. Being an IFP supporter distinguishes you from the crowd. It means you are a leader with the backing of years of experience in governance, self-help and self-reliance.  It means you are a leader in a party that knows what it is doing and what it needs to do to win against overwhelming odds.

We must tell ourselves the truth. The IFP does face overwhelming odds.

We have lost a significant number of seats in government and have lost support within this province and in other parts of South Africa where we had a presence.  But I believe KwaZulu Natal has had the opportunity to taste ANC governance and see that it is not as good as promised. Many of the excellent projects and initiatives started by the IFP prior to the 2004 elections were simply halted by the ANC when it took power in this province. The benefits which should have gone to the people were simply lost. Now people are left asking what the ANC is doing to create food security in KwaZulu Natal. What is it doing to upgrade education? What is it going to do to help our poorest communities? What is it doing to escalate the fight against Aids and stop mother-to-child transmission of HIV? The time is ripe for the IFP to provide leadership and answers.  We then go back to the challenge of the 2009 general election.

The crises we face today are changing South Africa. Our battle with HIV and Aids, for instance, has left many communities decimated and has changed the landscape of our society significantly. Today there are many child headed households in which the parents have died and the older siblings are left to look after the younger ones. I must pause here, because words fail me when I consider children being thrust into the role of parents, caregivers and providers. I cannot see this as God's plan for our children. While we must teach 7, 8 and even 12 year olds the value of responsibility and sound work ethic, it is unthinkable that we can place a burden on them which they are not equipped to handle.

The IFP has been working day in and day out to highlight the plight of children who cannot access social grants because their caregivers are also children and lack the necessary documentation. This is a serious problem amongst the poorest of our communities and compounds the insurmountable obstacles faced by child headed households. In this case, the system simply doesn't work and the worst affected are the most vulnerable. I take my hat off to those young people who have taken charge of their siblings in the absence of adults. Your strength amazes me. This Party will keep fighting and keep working until you receive the assistance owed to you by Government.  Even here our youth can assist to ensure that the necessary documentation is provided.  Minister Skweyiya is extremely concerned that this assistance be given.

You may have noticed from advertisements in the media that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has been in place for 18 years this year. The focus on children's rights is timely in South Africa, because Parliament has been working on an amendment to the Children's Act for several years and is set to pass this legislation next year. The amendments seek to ensure that the most vulnerable segment of our population is able to access social services including prevention and early intervention against abuse, protection services, alternative care and services for children with special needs.

The assisting of young people who will be 18 years in 2009 should be one of your biggest challenges.  Assist them to get IDs and to register to vote.

The mere fact that we need these amendments speaks of the extent to which our social landscape has changed in the past few decades. I know that children have always been more vulnerable to abuse and neglect.

They are less able to defend themselves, express their needs and demand their rights. But we now refer to "at risk" children, meaning children who are in imminent danger. The dangers young people face are wide ranging, from emotional, physical and sexual abuse in the home, to violence at school, bullying and intimidation, gangsterism, drug and alcohol abuse, neglect, hunger, insecurity, poor or no medical care, unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, a lack of adult guidance, poor quality education which leaves them ill-prepared for the labour market, a lack of opportunities and the means to grasp opportunities, desperation, depression and despair.

The young people in this room today have faced many, if not all, of these dangers. You know that being a young person in South Africa today means navigating a minefield of difficulties. The greatest threat we face as we consider these difficulties is the threat of desperation. We cannot afford to despair. This cannot become a lost generation. We must not allow that to happen. There is an important difference between the youth of the IFP and those who look at the challenges and just throw in the towel. The difference is that the IFP Youth Brigade knows its mission, believes that more can be achieved and has the will to work hard to achieve it.

There is a role for the IFP Youth Brigade in South Africa right now. It is the role of leadership in a situation of crisis. IFP youth are a generation set apart by their destiny to lead young South Africans out of desperation. I have quoted key examples that prove that this is true.

I refer to what I have already stated.  One is the resounding victory of SADESMO at the University of Zululand, where it now controls the governing body. Again, at the Mangosuthu University of Technology, SADESMO got 9 of the 12 seats. This proves not only that the IFP youth has leadership ability, but also that discerning people understand the leadership value of the IFP.

Thinking people chose the IFP. Thinking people support the IFP. Thinking people know better than to chase after so-called leaders whose sole mission is feathering their own nests and blowing their own trumpets.

Leaders must lead. It is a hard job and one which requires many sacrifices. It takes a specific kind of individual, one that knows their own strengths and is willing to offer these for the benefit of others.

The strengths I am talking about are not the capacity for autocratic behaviour, domination and arrogance. I am talking about the strength to work hard, persevere, sacrifice, think, care, give and serve.

I found it interesting, and quite disturbing, that recent newspaper headlines touted ANC presidential hopeful Mr Jacob Zuma as saying "I am ready to rule". I wish that Msholozi could have said: "I am ready to serve."  The greatest focus of all of us as leaders should be serving rather than ruling.  I say so without trying to enter into the ANC's succession battle which is the ANC members' business, rather than that of a leader of another party like ours.  The heated succession battle in the ANC has however, brought us many examples of how a party should not behave. The divisions and backstabbing and accusations have been bad for all of us. It has taken the focus off the issues and placed it on the personalities. The ANC has lost its capacity to lead the country. It is fighting over who gets what, rather than fighting for our country's future.  For a ruling Party which leads the whole Country these have not been good examples that the ruling Party has set for smaller parties like ours.

 On 22 November, Mr Sibusiso Phakathi, one of our Youth Brigade's National Executive Members, issued a press statement saying that the youth of South Africa is being neglected by youth development structures which are led by the ANC Youth League, and that this problem has been worse since the beginning of the ANC's succession debate. Mr Phakathi rightly said "South Africa should not be indirectly dragged into the ANC's problems." The IFP has called for the creation of a youth ministry located in the Presidency.  It is time to put an end to commissions that are useless and do not produce results, while supporting commissioners who are drawing in large salaries.

I also appeal to the Youth Brigade to look at the resolutions that are passed at your Conferences, in order to see which are implementable and which have been implemented since your last Conference.

The problem of corruption and poor ethical conduct among governance structures is unfortunately endemic. In the 25 November Weekend Argus, the Director-General in the Presidency, Reverend Frank Chikane, was reported as saying that: 'Criminal syndicates have infiltrated sensitive state structures - including the heart of the country's security agencies - while ex-agents and even "comrades" have tried to play the system for their own sinister ends...'. Reverend Chikane spoke about "the battle to stop such rot". 

These are exactly the words I used at the IFP's annual general conference. 

It is time to stop the rot. It is time for a generation of young people to rise up and lead the way out of the leadership crisis we are facing.

The IFP's youth know about survival. This is not the time to despair and grow desperate. It is the time to survive and lead. It is time to show South Africa what makes an IFP supporter different from other people. We are different because we have vision. We are different because we have survival instincts. We are different because we know how to lead. Let the IFP Youth Brigade rise up and lead South Africa. Let's keep working together to win back our country. Let's put South Africa on a course towards hope.

Contact: Jon Cayzer
084 555 7144