IFP ESHOWE ELECTION RALLY

ADDRESS BY

MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI, MP

PRESIDENT OF THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY AND MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS

Eshowe: MAY 19, 1999

It is good to be in my beloved KwaZulu Natal once again.

Eshowe has a very special place in my heart. My maternal great-grandfather, King Cetshwayo ka Mpande, died here in 1884 after a long struggle for his Kingdom, for which he endured a great deal of personal suffering.

King Dinuzulu, his son and my maternal grandfather, also lived for some time at Emkhontweni here in Eshowe, on his return from exile from the Island of St. Helena. Eshowe is a very special place in the history of our land and quite a lot of chapters of our history took place in Eshowe.

Over the past few months I have been travelling the length and breadth of South Africa carrying the message of the IFP into every community and town, every region and province and into every heart of the people of goodwill. I know that as I come to Eshowe, I am meeting with people who share an understanding with the IFP of what South Africa needs. At this crucial juncture in our country’s history, I am pleased to know that together with the IFP, the people of Eshowe will rise up to meet the challenge of founding in South Africa a true revolution of goodwill.

Today, we stand a mere 14 days away from our country’s second democratic elections. The time has come for us to ask ourselves whether we are satisfied with the successes we have known over the past five years. Has enough been done to bring us closer to the dream of final liberation for all our people? Could things have been done better? Could we have done more? We must ask ourselves these questions because we are faced now with the opportunity of changing the course of things to come, and making certain that when next we ask ourselves how far we have come, we can answer with peaceful hearts, that we have arrived at where we wanted to be.

June 2, 1999 offers to every South African the opportunity to send a clear and powerful message directly into our government. Through the ballot box, we have the choice to make our voices heard when we demand a better alternative to the way things have been going for far too long. The past five years of government have been characterised by words and good intentions. But it is not words and good intentions which will feed our people, or educate our children, or grow our economy, or create more jobs, or stop the onslaught of criminality, or establish once and for all a new South Africa of social stability and hope for all. There is no other way to achieve these goals, than through positive action and real results.

The IFP is the party of action. Our track record speaks for itself and we are the only party which can ensure that in the next five years, our government becomes a government of delivery. The contribution of the IFP in the next government of South Africa, whether from within government or from opposition, must be strengthened through the coming elections if we are to ensure that more words, words, words do not fill the next five years in South Africa. It is through the IFP’s contribution to our government that we have seen many sound policies formulated and implemented with positive results. Yet the IFP must be empowered to do more through the mandate of the people.

The more the IFP is empowered to do to improve the governance of South Africa for the next five years, the better our future will be for many decades to come. Each vote for the IFP will make the next government a better one. If people wish the next government to be better than the present one, we must strengthen the IFP and increase the IFP’s electoral support. If people wish for five more years of more of the same, they can vote for the ruling party and they will get five more years of the same, if not worse. If people want more of the same, they can also choose to vote for the opposition. The opposition has not been heard in the past five years and is not likely to be heard in the next five. Because the opposition cannot govern, it cannot deliver anything better, nor counter the fact that things remain just as they are if indeed they do not become worse. But, if people want a better alternative for a better government and a better future, they must turn today to the hope that the IFP has to offer.

From its position in the Government of National Unity, the IFP has stood firm against the adoption of many policies and decisions which would be to the long-term detriment of our people. With the IFP’s contribution, our government formulated countless pieces of legislation throughout the past five years. This in itself is a remarkable achievement, but until these efforts become translated into actual upliftment for our people, the IFP will not stop working and standing up and fighting. I do not believe that we have yet achieved the realisation of the original dream which powered our struggle for liberation. It seems that some leaders are content with what we achieved in 1994 and are now resting to reap the reward of our long and painful journey.

Yet the journey was made by every South African and I believe that the rewards of our struggle should be for the benefit of all our people. We cannot accept that a new privileged few should enjoy what rightfully belongs to all our people. The IFP is committed to continuing our struggle. We will not rest, for we do not believe that South Africa can celebrate what we have achieved, if we do not keep working to achieve that which we do not yet have. Until I see the realisation for which I still fight, I will not rest.

I have dedicated almost half a century to the fight for the genuine liberation for all our people. When I consider where we are now in South Africa, what we have accomplished and how we still suffer, I know that this is not the country we dreamt of. I believe that if we accept walking the long and uphill road to economic prosperity and social stability, we can reach our final goal. This will be a tough journey for us to make, and yet if we do not try it, our victories of the past will be meaningless for generations to come. Together with the IFP, I know that we can do it.

South Africa has every right to demand more from our government than we have now. We deserve to have a country in which every South African lives free from want and need, and free from the burden of poverty and the indignity of unemployment. We deserve a country in which both children and adults are taken from the shadows of ignorance for lack of education, experience and exposure and are trained to join a growing work-force of South Africans producing the wealth of our Nation. We deserve a country in which we do not have to live in fear from the dominance of criminality, in which we are not afraid for our lives, for our children, for our possessions, our property, our security and our future. South Africa deserves a future of hope which sees every tomorrow vastly better than today.

Only the IFP can ensure that as a country we get what we deserve. The IFP has a plan for South Africa which is based upon pragmatism and the realistic assessment of what can be achieved. We do not offer false promises of riches overnight, for we know that only hard work and painful sacrifices can bring the reality we seek from the dream we hope for. This is the way our 1994 miracle was won. We delivered our miracle through sweat and tears. There is no other way. The IFP is the only party with the courage and the moral integrity to announce to South Africa that in 1999 our miracle will be brought about in the very same way, or not at all.

The tendency of the present government towards empty promises and public relations operations spells disaster for our future. In the past five years the government has lost over five hundred thousand jobs. Five hundred thousand more families have lost their income. Five hundred thousand more families will not be able to afford to continue their children’s education, or keep up bond payments on their houses, or pay for medical treatment or even buy food to eat. Yet all that we have heard is jobs, jobs and more jobs. Until government is able to deliver results from promises, the time for promises must cease.

The IFP does not believe in words, but in action. We have not indulged in summits and talk-shops which discuss concepts on how to create jobs. Rather, we offer clear and decisive steps which South Africa can take to see a future in which every South African will have the prospect of employment. The IFP has dedicated its efforts towards revising our education system so that we can teach our children skills, and train them for specific professions. We can create a system which enables our school-leavers and young people to be smoothly integrated into the productive work-force of our country. We need to grow our human resources by equipping South Africans with the tools of knowledge and skills, self-confidence and self-reliance. The IFP knows that our human resources are the most valuable and least exploited natural treasure of South Africa.

The IFP is working for the people of South Africa because we know that our new South Africa must be built by strengthening the primary building blocks of our society. Our primary building blocks are our families and communities, for it is from here that the moral courage, the personal commitment and the wells of goodwill to change our circumstances, will truly grow. The IFP is committed to strengthening the communities of our country and to empowering the people to govern South Africa for themselves. If we are to see real democracy, we must create a situation in which the voices of the people are not merely heard, but are also heeded. It is for this that the IFP is fighting.

At present we have a centralised government in South Africa which is removed from the people on the ground and from the issues of our communities. The IFP has always walked with our people and I have lived amongst the poorest of the poor for most of my life. I have never left my people, or spent long periods of time outside the country. I remain aware of the real needs of my people and I know how, together with the IFP, the people of our communities can solve them. The IFP knows how we can move away the power to govern from a bureaucracy which deals out uniform solutions from Cape Town or Pretoria, and move this power into our own province.

The IFP has stood firm in the struggle for provinces. There is a serious threat that if the present government goes unhindered, a process of greater centralisation will begin which aims at abolishing or emasculating provinces. The IFP fought for provinces and for greater provincial powers throughout negotiations, for we understand that a nation of nations such as our own cannot afford a government which governs its people with one word. Uniformity does not mean unity. We have our own customs and way of life as Zulus, as Coloureds, as Afrikaners, as English, as Portuguese, as Greeks and as Indians etc., just as every group of South Africa’s peoples has. We deserve to have our expression of identity respected and protected. The IFP fight for provincial powers is the fight for identity.

The IFP is the only party which carried the banner of federalism throughout negotiations and the following five years of governance. There are some who now scramble to walk under this banner, and who pay lip-service to a federal solution. However the IFP is the party of actions and conviction. The IFP is the real federal party. Federalism is the best means to get the power to govern to the lowest level of government capable of dealing with any issue effectively and efficiently. Through a federal system, we can rebuild South Africa from the bottom up, ensuring that the contribution of individuals and communities at grassroots level is the determining factor in how we run our country. Communities must run communities and provincial government, provinces.

The IFP wants to see provinces become the mouthpiece of delivery and we want to empower our communities to govern themselves. In my over forty years of experience in politics and government, I have confirmed that there is no one better equipped to govern the people, than the people themselves. Giving the power to govern to communities rather than bureaucracies, decreases the opportunity or incentive for corruption, wastage and mismanagement of resources. In my experience, when a community is given the funding to build a school, a school is built. There is no procrastination or unwarranted deliberation. There is no wasting and stealing. There are no abandoned foundations. People must think about the risk confronting us. There are clear indications that provinces may be abolished and only the IFP can stop this.

The community of Eshowe knows me well. You know how things were achieved when I was the Chief Minister of the erstwhile KwaZulu Government. You and I built our own schools and we equipped our hospitals and we ran our province with what little resources we received. Our communities in this province have been strengthened through our fight. We have grown self-reliant through the tremendous efforts and difficult sacrifices of self-help. We know how to run a community and how to make its people grow and prosper. We are responsible. It is time now to give power to responsibility. Together with the IFP, we know that we can make our communities work. Let us strengthen the hand of the IFP in the coming elections, so that the IFP can make its contribution to the next government and ensure that this time it really will be a government for the people, by the people, and of the people.

Federalism means more schools with well-trained and motivated teachers, smaller classes and sufficient text books. Federalism means more clinics and hospitals which deliver good and modern care on time and professionally. Federalism means accessible pension offices and welfare centres which are free of the corruption which stalks the weakest members of our society. Federalism means more efficient municipal services and improved infrastructure such as roads, houses, shopping centres, libraries, children’s homes and old age homes, community centres and development complexes.

Federalism means more police stations which are well-resourced and well-staffed, a police force which is empowered to act when it is needed and where it is needed. The fight against crime will not be won at national level. The overwhelming percentage of crime is perpetrated at community level. It ought to be fought at community level. The IFP is tired of hearing from our government that South Africa does not have a real crime problem. We are in the middle of a crisis. There is no use in avoiding the truth. The IFP has the moral courage and the back-bone to stand up and face the facts. We have always been the party to tell it like it is. We know that something must be done.

We can only fight dramatic problems with drastic solutions. There is no other way to win the fight against crime than to get tougher on criminals. The IFP is demanding stiffer sentences for specific crimes and we are not too weak to call for a referendum on capital punishment so that South Africans can finally air their views. The IFP believes that the next government must address the people’s just desire for appropriate retribution. We want to see prisons become places of rehabilitation and positive productiveness, rather than mere centres for criminal higher learning. It is time to stop the growing culture of lawlessness, indiscipline, lack of respect for authority and for human life, entitlement, corruption and greed which has aggravated our crisis. It is time for the strong hand of the IFP.

The IFP knows that unless we stop the rot, the seeds of positive action which we sow today will not germinate into real social benefits for tomorrow. This applies to every aspect of our South African situation. For instance, the IFP supported the GEAR strategy as being the major part of government’s plan to grow our country’s economy. We fought for the rapid implementation of GEAR for we know that there is no hope of addressing the myriad of social difficulties without first accelerating our economic growth rate. However, GEAR has been sidelined by the negative and undue influence of trade union barons and communists over our government. Today, the once heralded GEAR strategy is not even mentioned in the manifesto of the ruling party. As this stage, we will need to go beyond GEAR and adopt hard economic options if we are to rescue our failing hopes for a prosperous South Africa.

The IFP is committed to putting a stop to the negative influence of trade unions and communists over our government. The ambivalence of government must stop. It is time to bring the political axis of power closer to the centre and away from those who do not have the best interests of the people at heart. There is no place in the next government for weakness and ambivalence. There is no place for those who are not willing to do their best for the people. The IFP will not tolerate anyone sidelining our efforts to get South Africa on track towards economic prosperity so that we may ensure social upliftment. We are a party of integrity and determination. We have what it takes to stay firmly on track and to implement good policies with firm action.

The IFP’s plans for economic prosperity have remained the same for many years. We know what South Africa ought to look like ten or even thirty years down the road, and we are committed to seeing a future of economic prosperity and social stability become the reality of today. The long-term vision of the IFP enables us to see what South Africa needs right now, in order to achieve what we want tomorrow. Our vision is based on pragmatism and good policies. For many years we have advocated privatisation and the liberalising of our market forces. We have urged the creation of greater investment incentives and pushed to have the focus fall upon small and medium sized businesses as the driving force of a growing economy. It seems that only now is government waking up to IFP policies and realising that had the IFP been heeded five years ago, today we would be five years closer to our goal of success.

The next government desperately needs the experience and know-how of the IFP. We have the vision to see economic prosperity and the experience to achieve it. The IFP knows that we cannot rely on redistribution alone to rescue our poorest people. There are simply not enough resources for redistribution to succeed. Unless we first grow our economic cake, no matter how we slice or distribute it, many will still go hungry. Moreover, unless we address the plight of the poorest segments of our society, there will be no future even for the most affluent ones. Our economic landscape is still characterised by vast tracts of poverty, interspersed with small pockets of affluence.

The IFP wants to ensure that a new South Africa can be built through the efforts of all our people, and for the benefit of all our people. The hard work and personal sacrifices of every South African must result in the rewards belonging equally to everyone. We need a revolution in our country which relies on the goodwill of all South Africans so that together, we can change the way our people live. We need to change the culture of indolence and entitlement, of alienation and immorality, of violence and despair. We will bring our change through a revolution of goodwill led by the IFP elephant. The IFP elephant is coming to lead the way because our elephant offers the strong, courageous and determined leadership which the people of goodwill so desperately need.

The IFP elephant offers a leadership of action, a leadership of results, of charisma, experience, vision and realism. The IFP is the leadership South Africa needs. If we want things to change and to become vastly better in the next five years, we must vote now to strengthen the hand of the IFP. Only the IFP can make a real difference to the way things are done. The people of Eshowe know that a vote for the IFP, is a vote for the people. We are voting for our communities, for our provinces, for our country and for our future. We are voting for a revolution of goodwill and we are voting for the IFP elephant.

If the IFP wins, the people of Eshowe win. If the IFP wins, South Africa wins. If the IFP wins, we all win. Let us be determined to carry the message of the IFP straight into the next elections, so that the IFP can carry the voice of the people straight into the next government. Together with the IFP, we can make this a winning country. Together, we can do it.

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