Politics, of all disciplines, has taught me that the purpose of human fellowship is for the purpose of action. The currency of politics is public service. It's simply about working with people to help deliver the things they value and desire. 

The public policy programme of any party is the key to what that party would do in government. Political parties seek political power in order to implement their programme. The IFP is no different. We aim to offer the best programme for government. 

But what are the people's needs? What do they value and desire? And how does a progressive political party address these needs?  

These are the crucial questions facing us in 2008. The IFP is proud to be launching our draft policy programme today. It is a programme that crisply deals with two questions: what are the country's needs and how should we go about addressing them. We are presenting them today because it is clear that South Africa is not getting the kind of leadership its people need and deserve.    

These range from combating the HIV/Aids pandemic, fighting rampant crime, the provision of adequate healthcare and welfare grants, to the crisis in education.   

We are quite clear about what kind of country we would like South Africa to be. We want a thriving economy that creates the wealth to deliver rising living standards and better public services to all.  

We want a caring society that gives people the freedom to live the lives they want, but which supports families and protects the vulnerable.      

And we want to be part of a strong, self-confident and outward-looking country, a country with a good reputation in the region and the wider world, a country we can be proud of.  

This is why our policy programme matters and why it is so important to us and to the country. 

I need to emphasise that the document we are launching today is a draft document. We are not presenting you final IFP policy, but draft IFP policy. The policy proposals contained in this booklet are not a finished product. They are meant to stimulate a lively national discussion from 'sea to shining sea'. We want to hear the full range of South African voices: the fisherman in Soldana Bay, the domestic worker in Phoenix and the board manager in Sandton, the jobseekers and students, too.  

We aim to carry out a clear and uncompromising evaluation of the magnitude and nature of the fundamental challenges facing modern South Africa. These proposals are a starting point. They are the beginning of a process which will result in the completion of our policy programme during the course of 2008. 

The IFP recognise that government, like the IFP, does not have all the answers, but we instinctively assume the best in people. Our starting point is that people are decent and care about others. We trust people.

We trust the South African people.  

We don't see people as a problem to be handled by government like an anonymous statistic. We see people who have problems, like you and I sometimes do, needing to be helped by government: a hand up, not a hand down.  

We don't view society from above, from Pretoria and Cape Town, like some national project to be managed, directed and monitored. We know twenty-first century South Africa is a more complex and diverse wonder than that.  

We look at society from the bottom upwards. We views individuals, families, communities, voluntary organisations, faith groups and businesses as the foundation of a modern, diverse, cosmopolitan country. 

We believe profoundly that there is an "all" in politics as well as an "I", and we believe they do not exist as mutually exclusive aims.   

The IFP stands for aspiration and compassion in equal measure, breaking out of the old Left versus Right mould. Some trees, of course, will grow taller than others, but, the IFP says no one should be left behind. 

We are therefore presenting to you for your consideration today and, in greater detail in the months ahead of us, a document whose policy proposals comprise the basis for interaction within the party and, more importantly, outwards to civil society. After all, engaging citizens, strengthening democracy and delivering effective services should be unified not, as they too often are, separate policies. 

We will now make nine brief presentations, covering some of the major challenges facing South Africa today, together with our proposed solutions. These cover the following themes: 

Economic growth and job creation

Combating poverty

Law and order

Education

Health

The democratic challenge

Redressing the past

South Africa in the world

and

The moral challenge 

I now invite Narend Singh to start off the presentations.

Contact: Jon Cayzer
084 555 7144