Emandleni Matleng, Ulundi - 20th December 2008

 

This year the national conference of the IFP Youth Brigade is one of the most important that we have ever held. There are several reasons for this. In the first place, this year's conference shows how the Youth Brigade has matured into a much stronger and self-confident entity than ever before. Each institution goes through a process of internal growth, and the Youth Brigade is no exception. Today's youth is much more mature, self-aware and capable of contributing to the political discourse than in the past, reflecting the overall progress and development in our society. However, with greater power comes greater responsibility.

The second element of importance of this conference is in its proximity to one of the most important watershed elections in the history of South Africa, which is likely to be held in about 100 days. Depending on the contributions of political parties in the forthcoming election campaign, South Africa is likely to maintain the course of its liberation struggle, or forever abandon it in an irretrievable path towards corruption and the neglect of the interests of the people. If we abandon our struggle, politics will become entrenched as being for the benefit of the leaders and not the general good.

The third element which makes this conference important is the political context in which it takes place. It highlights the profound juxtaposition between the crippling corruption of South African politics and the values which the IFP Youth Brigade espouses. It is at this time that the Youth Brigade can show how it can lead the country, not because it is necessarily the largest political organisation in South Africa, but because it can become the one which is best qualified, best resourced and best skilled in articulating and expressing the genuine values of democracy and the values of our liberation movement, which must be maintained for the future of South Africa.  Your theme for this Conference covers this: 'THE IFP'S YOUTH: CUSTODIANS OF THE VALUES FOR OUR FUTURE.'

Our liberation movement was based on the fundamental notion of serving the interests of the people, not the ambitions of the leaders. The liberation movement was driven by the dream of giving everyone the opportunity of a dignified life, free from fear, need and hopelessness. It was about building a society which can fulfil its promises to all its citizens for job opportunities in an environment in which everyone can fulfil the full measure of his or her God-given potentials irrespective of whether they were born poor or rich, black or white, rural or urban, or on any of the sides of the many divides which separate our society. Our liberation movement was about issues, strategies, values and a never-ending struggle to change society. It was not about the cult of personalities, the fight amongst leaders to secure the top jobs for themselves, the ambition to rule for ruling sake and disdain for those who are left behind.

In the IFP, we are the genuine custodians of the legacy of values of the liberation movement. The Youth Brigade is uniquely qualified to take this legacy on to the next level and, through schools, universities and the entire fabric of society, articulate and develop it into new theories, new values and a new strategy for our future. Young people are the theorists and strategists of our future. The Youth Brigade has already positioned itself to leapfrog into this greater role which requires its stronger presence in all the schools and universities of South Africa.

I am proud to remind us that in October the IFP-aligned SADESMO won all twelve seats on the Students Representative Council at the Mangosuthu University of Technology. I will quote the Youth Brigade's Acting Chairperson, who rightly said:
"It is clear that the youth of South Africa is looking towards the IFP for guidance during a time where our country is experiencing a severe leadership crisis. This result is a vote of confidence in the IFP and its structures." 

Even where the IFP Youth Brigade cannot be the controlling force in the Student Representative Council, it must become the one which provides the most stimulating contribution to the political debates amongst the youth. This is not difficult, as other political organisations are now busy talking about squabbles amongst leaders and not about the issues. Very few people are talking about bread and butter issues and values.

We are very proud of what SADESMO achieved in mobilising students at these tertiary institutions.  Even here they did so amidst great intolerance displayed by their opponents in SASCO.  They had to endure vile songs that SASCO - the student wing of the ANC sang about me.  One was to the effect that I was scratching my genitals while Mandela was in jail.  That is the level to which the ANC gospel of vilifying opponents has flourished amongst their youth.

The rhetoric of mudslinging has crept into the debate and has sidelined the issues that affect all of us in our homes, workplaces, schools and communities.  The debate no longer focuses on how the conditions of people will be improved in their families, workplaces, schools and communities, depending on whether Mr Zuma, Mr Motlanthe, Mr Lekota or Mangosuthu Buthelezi is the next President of South Africa. It is almost as if we were watching an episode of South African "Idols", in which the contestants are chosen on the basis of their feel and look, rather than on what they can actually do for the country and its people.

Mudslinging has gone to a new level. The ANC has called COPE "Snakes", "dogs"

and "cockroaches". COPE has called the ANC's President "South Africa's Stalin"

and "a rapist". ANC supporters have been seen chanting "Kill Lekota, Kill Shilowa". Last week, the ANC Secretary-General, Mr Gwede Mantashe, went so far as to say that COPE is an agent of counter-revolutionary forces and that its founders, whom he called "the gang of three", have been paid to destroy the ANC.   The Young Communist League spokesman Castro Ngobese has called Mr Mosiua Lekota "a baboon" for what he called his adoption of the song 'SUIKEBOSSIE' and for berating the singing of 'AWULETHE UMSHINI WAMI' because the song had a figurative meaning.  "Bring me my machine gun," means bring the masses to rally behind the ANC to fight poverty, unemployment and the scourge of HIV/AIDS.  He added that Mr Lekota would not understand this because "baboons can't reason"

When the Pretoria High Court Judges - Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division Bernard Ngoepe, Jerry Shongwe and Ben du Plessis – dismissed with costs the ANC's application to challenge the breakaway Party's use of Congress of the People, no less a figure than Mr Gwede Mantashe - the Secretary-General of the ANC said that he could forgive Du Plessis, a white Judge for not knowing the "historical facts" but described the two other Judges who are black as, "Apartheid apologists!"

All of this detracts from the genuine debates of democracy which ought to be based on the comparison between policies and the assessment of which ones may best fulfil the promises of South Africa.

There is nothing more important to the building of a fair and open society than the genuine and realistic hope that if one works and studies hard enough, one can get to the top. Instead the image is being projected that politics is the channel through which one may advance oneself in society, even without schooling, hard work or sacrifices. It is now the responsibility of the Youth Brigade to establish in the whole of South Africa the determined hope that young people can forge a new and better future for themselves through the tools of dedicated study, hard work and commitment. By being the depository of this value for our future and by propagating it throughout society, the Youth Brigade will perform a historically important role.

This is now more important than ever. I was shocked when, in October, as Matriculation students across the country were gearing up for exams, the Gauteng Education MEC and Chairperson of the ANC Women's League, Ms Angie Motshekga, made a public statement that good matric results and academic achievements are not relevant characteristics of a leader. She was speaking at an ANC Youth League function and was defending Mr Malema's poor matric results. Don't those who aspire to leadership need to aspire to excellence? It seems as if the message is going out that one should not bother to study or try harder if one wishes to become a political leader, which is a wrong value to instil in our society.

I have studied and worked very hard throughout my life. I began studying at the age of 5 and, 75 years later, I have still not stopped. The learning process never stops. The more one learns, the more one realises how little one knows. I make an effort to read as many books as my time allows and, for 75 years, I have strived to rise out of the ignorance to which every human is convicted unless he or she studies, studies and studies. Make no mistake; only through studying, self-development and hard work will today's youth be able to secure a better future. These values, which are so deeply enshrined in the history and practice of the IFP, must be carried forward and propagated by the Youth Brigade.

The juxtaposition could not be sharper. During the apartheid era, the ANC advocated the notion of "Liberation Now, Education Later", while the IFP promoted the notion of "Education for Liberation", which I have tried to embody in my own life. Now some of the ANC's leaders are suggesting that there is no point in becoming educated and one needs to focus one's hopes on getting involved in politics where skills and education supposedly do not matter. This spells disaster for our country.

The educational policies of our country are fundamental to our future and require a serious rethinking. Those matriculating this year began their educational journey under the new Outcomes Based Education curriculum and their matric results are now the final test in determining the success or failure of the entire programme of Outcomes Based Education. The current education system has already proven to have failed, and it must be overhauled. There is just no alternative. There is no future for South Africa unless we encourage and enable our youth to strive for the highest level of education.

South Africa's youth will need to compete for job opportunities in the global village in which countries like India and China, which together total almost 3 billion people, have made and continue to make huge investments in education. If we fail to match what India and China are doing, we can just as well throw in the towel and condemn our youth to a future of squalor, abject poverty and underdevelopment. This is not hyperbole, but the hard facts of the matter.

It is for our Youth Brigade to make the statement that the present levels of education are unacceptable because they spell out the demise of your future, and the end of the hopes for a better future which drove our liberation struggle. It is for the Youth Brigade to begin a new struggle to force a serious rethinking of our education system, even if that means imposing on present and future students a greater burden of studies and effort. Without this, there will not be a future worth living, as there are no short cuts to success, but only an uphill road made of hard work, study and total dedication.  This is the core value for our future which the IFP Youth Brigade enshrines and must propagate.

However, the most important of all values which the dedication of our youth must enshrine in our society, is the value of honesty and integrity. One wonders how the political system is promoting and entrenching this value? The unfortunate fact of the present situation is that it does not until recently. The ANC's President,   Mr Zuma, was facing one charge of racketeering, one charge of money laundering, two charges of corruption and twelve charges of fraud which are related to the multi-billion Rand Government arms deal. It is estimated that, if he was ever convicted, he would face a minimum of 15 years imprisonment.

I am in no way suggesting or hoping that Mr Zuma is guilty of these charges or that he may be found guilty. In my heart I hope that he is not guilty, for his sake and the sake of the country. I am merely stating the facts of the present situation which highlights how it is now difficult in South Africa for the political system to project honesty and integrity as the paramount value which must underpin both politics and society.  This is worsened by the ANC leaders not talking about Mr Zuma getting his day in Court anymore, but they are now talking about finding a political solution for what is a legal matter, which needs a legal solution.  The way the ruling Party has got rid of the scorpions has given quite an ugly impression to it all.

But that is not where it ends. If the political discourse is not supported by intellectual rigor, education and guiding values, everything and the contrary of everything may come out of it, leaving confusion and blundering as the only elements of certainty. For instance, the Cape Times of 21 November 2008, quoting Mr Zuma's statements over the last few months, noted that he –

"a) said he does not believe in children's rights; b) said he does not believe in the rights of teen mothers; c) said he does not believe in the separation of church and state; d) said modern science and the science of psychiatry are rubbish".

Mr Zuma has also said that the ANC wants a "three thirds majority" which is contrary to the spirit of democracy. I am not saying this to attack Mr Zuma, as he has the right to choose his own policies just as we have the right to choose ours. However, it does mark the early signs of degeneration and the texture of the political debate.

I do not need to say more, and I hope that the point is made that it is the role of this Youth Brigade to set the intellectual and moral standards of the future political debate. While Mr Zwelinzima Vavi and Mr Julius Malema go around propagating the "Kill for Zuma" discourse, it should be the role of the Youth Brigade not to advocate the killing of people, but to censure the stupidity of language, the poverty of values and the degeneration of politics.

In order to do so, the Youth Brigade must pass its own test. It must show its worth both to our Party and to the rest of South Africa. If the Youth Brigade fails this test, it will have no legitimacy in performing the role which I have thus far outlined. This test will be conducted between today and tomorrow, but will carry itself all the way into the future, in the gearing up to elections and beyond.

I have been very displeased by the involvement of our Party in the affairs of the Youth Brigade. During our National Council meeting, I criticised members of our Party who took it upon themselves to back one of the two contenders.

I thought that my speaking like that and also at the meeting of our National Council would sort out the problem.  The Secretary-General and Advocate Mathenjwa were tasked by the National Council to speak to both candidates, Messrs Thulasizwe Buthelezi and Irvin Barnes on the 1st of December.  We thought these talks would sort out the problem.  But it was not to be.  As a result, the National Executive Committee decided at its meeting on the 15th of December to again ask the Secretary-General and members of the NEC to speak to the two candidates and to impress on them the feeling of the NEC that the NEC felt that if the elections of the Youth Brigade were held under the present circumstances, they had concluded that it would result in an unbridgeable rift, which the Party could not afford just 100 days before the general election.

Ganging up before the Youth Brigade elections and other undesirable activities that have taken place were considered by the NEC.  We could not countenance plans to bus people to this Conference who had not been card-carrying members of the Youth Brigade before the Conference as happened in 2004 during the election of a National Chairperson.  Rumours about money that has exchanged hands and renting a crowd style of arrangements were features of these activities which included the involvement of the ANC in talks which made the NEC to take that decision to invite the two leading contenders again on the 15th of December 2008.  The Secretary-General and a few members of the National Council were tasked to speak to Messrs Thulasizwe Buthelezi and Irvin Barnes.  This matter was put to them and the following is the Joint Statement which they issued and signed:

JOINT STATEMENT BY THULASIZWE BUTHELEZI AND IRVIN BARNES

15 DECEMBER 2008

We, Mr Irvin Barnes and Mr Thulasizwe Buthelezi, would like to announce that we are withdrawing from the race for the leadership of the IFPYB, that is set to take place at the 30th National Annual Elective IFPYB Conference this weekend, 19-21 December 2008, in Ulundi.

We have taken this decision in the interest of party unity and we believe that it is our patriotic duty to place the interest of our Party above our personal interests.

Accordingly, we appeal to our supporters to respect our decision and also to assist in the process of healing and for unity to transpire within the ranks of the IFPYB.

We would like to thank all structures of the IFPYB who have placed our names forward for the position of Chairperson of the IFPYB.  We are deeply humbled by the trust they have placed on us, but we are confident that the decision that we have taken today is in the best interest of the IFPYB.

We would further like to appeal to all structures of the IFPYB to support candidates nominated from the floor at the conference for the position of IFP Youth Brigade Chairperson

_________________________________________________________________

Irvin Barnes                                                           

_________________________________________________________________

Thulasizwe Buthelezi                                       

Signed at Durban, 15 December 2008

We have no doubt that delegates of the Youth Brigade will respect the decision of the two leaders of the Youth Brigade.  The National Council, which represents the Annual General Conference between meetings, has endorsed this decision yesterday.  Our view is that in the light of that decision by your two leaders it may be the best option to postpone your election to avoid a situation of their being excluded from standing, when the elections are held under an atmosphere more conducive to our Party's unity.

I do not expect any copycat of the Youth League leader who said a few months ago:  "There is no one in the ANC who can tell us what to do" and "Part of our work is to keep the ANC in line".  The IFP Youth Brigade is part of the IFP.  It is not a separate structure from the main body of our Party.  It is not a watchdog over the Party nor a lapdog of alliance partners.

We have ensured that members of the IFP Youth Brigade are elected to all the structures of the Party, that they are represented in local government, in the Provincial Legislatures and in the National Parliament.  As individuals members of the Youth Brigade have an equal status with anyone of us and that merit and merit alone is the final decisive factor.

The IFP Youth Brigade is an integral part of our Party and works with it, not against it. It may carry out special responsibilities, such as work-shopping and researching specific issues which may benefit from the skill of young people, who are more prone to understand the new dimensions of the world we live in.

For instance, around the world, governments are working to redress the current and imminent consequences of global warming. Yet in South Africa, the SABC recently hosted a debate on whether global warming is real or not. This is truly shocking. South Africa is light years behind in the global pursuit of renewable energy, carbon credits and clean energy sources. In most homes, we do not even separate our rubbish for recycling. Retailers still use superfluous plastic packaging for items like fruit and vegetables. And we never hear our leaders speak about installing carbon capture and sequestration capacity at coal-fired plants, increasing solar power or adopting conservation tillage.

All this will undermine the Government's stated hope of increasing renewable energy sources by 2013. These are the type of issues on which the Youth Brigade can provide a unique leadership role within our Party by accessing knowledge, providing a fresh look into issues and mobilising young people, whether they are in school or not, to cope with the consequences of this imminent crisis which will affect their future for many decades to come.

Global warming is not science fiction; it is fact. We are already experiencing climate changes and changes in rainfall patterns. This is impacting our food security, as crops and animals respond poorly to these changes. Drought when it should be raining, and floods even in the dry season are becoming common features. The sunny days that nourish our mielies, now often scorch them, or fail to arrive. The cycle of seasons is being interrupted and the consequences will be dire. We are on a course towards a South Africa that – in our children's lifetime - will be too hot, too wet, too dry, too humid or too cold to grow food. This spells disaster for all of us.

As part of its genuine commitment to our people, the IFP is taking bold steps to join the international struggle against global warming. One of our Members of Parliament, Dr Ruth Rabinowitz, has tabled a bill on renewable energy and feed-in tariffs, which is the first legislation in South Africa to substantially consider the way forward. This Bill has received overwhelming support. Our media should not be ruminating on the veracity of global warming; it should be bringing South Africans up to speed with the terminology and tactics the world is already using.

It is time to bring realism and pragmatism to politics and abandon ideologies.  The best case in point is the National Youth Commission, which I identified as a waste of time and energy since its inception because of the way it was structured. That is a typical example of noble ideas and purposes being structured within a framework of ineffectiveness and incompetence, with the certainty of failure as a built-in consequence.

The IFP Youth Brigade heeded my warnings and for years has recognised the hopelessness of the National Youth Commission, calling for its disbandment. It became clear that the issue of promoting the youth had been hijacked by the agenda of promoting and rewarding political cronies within the ANC, which spelt out the demise of efforts made to help all the young people in South Africa. In the end, nobody except a few received substantial benefits during twelve years of the existence of this body.

Therefore we welcome that recognition in that the National Youth Development Agency will now replace the National Youth Commission. It is important that the Youth Brigade now raises its voice to ensure that this new agency is so structured that it can pursue the interests of all young people, rather than a few cronies of the ANC and a large apparatus of political functionaries who can make money and drive big cars on the pretence of promoting the interests of the youth.

However, the greatest and most important test through which the worth of the Youth Brigade will be discovered is the contribution it can make to driving the election campaign which, make no mistake, has already begun.  Unfortunately, the IFP is not as prepared as it ought to be for this great challenge. We have the message and we need to rely on the Youth Brigade to mobilise all the youth of South Africa to get the message out. It is of the essence that the Youth Brigade sends a delegation into each and every university and high school in South Africa, seeking an opportunity to address the students. It is of vital importance that the IFP Youth Brigade identifies representatives and potential supporters in each and every school and university who can receive the IFP message, fliers and documentation, and propagate them not only amongst the students but also amongst their parents and in their communities.  We are all engaged in the task of ensuring that people have IDs and that they are registered at the right polling stations.  We are all engaged in door to door canvassing.  We are recruiting volunteers who can be party agents during the forthcoming elections.  The IFP has for years lagged behind other parties such as the ruling Party and the DA when it comes to getting volunteers to perform these tasks for our Party.  We need people to assist the elderly people who are the largest segment of those people who do not vote.  The elderly need young people to take their IDs to check if they are registered at the right polling stations.  On the day of the election we need those of us who are able-bodied, a large segment of which are members of the Youth Brigade, to encourage elderly people to get out to vote.  They need assistance even to reach the polling stations.

Structuring this commitment into an actual plan of action must be the primary item on the agenda of this conference. Everything I have discussed earlier is undoubtedly important. But it requires no more than the participants of this conference taking note of them, for it will all become useless if the IFP does not secure an electoral victory for itself in about 100 days. It is important that we prove in the next elections that our Party remains viable by first and foremost regaining control of KwaZulu Natal, and also securing a greater electoral representation throughout the country.  Our National Chairperson has personally canvassed in several Provinces, thereby setting an example for all of us.  We as a Party need to appear in the political radar of all the Provinces.  Unless we get people who are prepared to do so, it will not happen, and we will always then lose the war by default.

If there is anything I wish to plead with the IFP Youth Brigade, for the sake of my lifelong dedication to this Party over 30 years of having done nothing but serve this Party so that all of you may inherit it; it is that you set aside your squabbles, your ambitions and anything else which may divert your attention and time, and that you focus exclusively on the national elections.

You must not forget that this Party of ours, over which so many people seem to be fighting, is the product primarily of my lifelong work and dedication. I will be bequeathing it on future generations in the hope that you will not squander it and that you will have the ability to take it beyond what I could.  There is no doubt that as happened in 2004, there are some amongst you who are trying to sell this Party for a mess of pottage to other parties.

You are always in danger of being the unwitting pawns of our political enemies. So you need to be alert all the time.  What is more we live in an atmosphere where the resources of the state are being used by some in the ruling Party to sell their souls even for a mess of pottage.

As we face the global economic meltdown we are going to feel the pinch of all the evils that we face even more intensely.  There is a retrenchment of workers which is already going on right now, in the midst of such high levels of unemployment.  Crime has never been as bad as it is getting every day, clearly a problem exacerbated by the economic down-turn.  We know that the scourge of HIV/AIDS is no where near lowering its levels.  It is in fact much worse than it ever was.  While more infected people receive retrovirals than in the past, this has not affected the levels of the pandemic particularly in this Province.  The level is still highest in the world. 

We know that when it comes to these evils, be it crime or HIV/AIDS the ruling Party has been in denial for most of the time they have been in power.  In this Province we as IFP had to instruct the then Premier of the Province Dr LPHM Mtshali to join the TAC in taking the government to the Constitutional Court in order to force the government to supply nevarapine  to pregnant mothers in order to prevent them sentencing their babies to death.  Dr Mtshali was taken to Court for doing this by no less a person than Dr Mkhize the then Minister of Health in the Province.  Dr Mkhize argued in Court that he had the executive authority on health matters.  And that the Premier Dr Mtshali had no executive authority for taking the issue of nevarapine to Court.  Dr Mkhize lost that case. 

I need to remind those of you who may have forgotten and who may therefore be easily blinded by all sorts of blandishments of the ANC now that they are seeking electoral support.  And many of you now were younger at the time need to have this information on your fingertips so that you can disillusion some of our people who may be deceived by so many honeyed words of the ANC.

It is interesting that the Health Department in this Province has overspent its budget by billions.  And that although the Provincial Minister of Health is innocent until proven guilty, that she is, however, appearing in Court on charges of corruption.

Whether in this lifetime or having passed on to greener pastures, nothing would make me happier than to see the IFP being taken far beyond what I did. And nothing would make me more saddened, whether alive or in my grave, than the thought that the IFP will end or receive a major setback if I am no longer its leader. I am depending on new generations to prove their political worthiness in the only way that now matters, which is political work in the electoral process. If we secure a good showing in the elections, the IFP Youth Brigade will have the opportunity to perform the important role in South African society which I have outlined, and any other role it may choose to give itself.

But like a young person can only aspire to a better future if he or she achieves good results through his or her studies, so the IFP Youth Brigade can only aspire to a greater role in South Africa if the IFP successfully passes the electoral test in about 100 days. I pray that God Almighty will give you the guidance and strength to perform this task. I invite you all to surrender your efforts to His inspiration, so that this Party of ours, under God, may fulfil its grave and many responsibilities towards the people of South Africa at this crucial juncture of our history.

You should not doubt yourselves anymore.  SADESMO has in a way proved it to you that with just a little determination and hard work anything is possible.  They have made laughable what had become a favourite punch line of some Editors and some of the activists of the ANC masquerading as political analysts that "YOUNG PEOPLE THINK THAT IT IS NOT COOL TO BELONG TO THE IFP."  You are the future of this Party and this Nation.  We have become a very young Party.

There is still a lot of sense in the saying that 'MAN PROPOSES AND GOD DISPOSES'.  Remember the famous words of that great American President Abraham Lincoln that you can fool some of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.

I thank you.