CLOSING RALLY OF THE IFP GAUTENG ELECTION CAMPAIGN

ADDRESS BY

Mr. Ben Ngubane, MP, National Deputy

Chairperson of the Inkatha Freedom Party

Tembisa: MAY 30, 1999

Speaking at the closing of the IFP’s Gauteng Election ’99 Campaign in Tembisa, Gauteng at Tembisa, Mr. Ben Ngubane, MP, National Deputy Chairperson of the Inkatha Freedom Party said:

I am honoured to be here in Tembisa today to formally close the IFP’s Election ’99 campaign in Gauteng. Our President formally launched the Gauteng campaign on 14th March. In that two and a half months we have campaigned hard and I have no doubt whatsoever that the fruits of your labour will be seen once the ballot boxes are sealed and the results come flooding in next Wednesday.

For those reporters from The Star who are here today I want to let you into a little secret. The headline that appeared on Thursday in The Star that the ‘ANC set to sweep Gauteng election’ is wrong. It is the IFP that will be sweeping to power in this Province next week.

It has been a long campaign but we are fast coming to the day when we are called upon to exercise our democratic right and to choose the sort of Government and the sort of society that we want for our beloved country.

We should none of us make our choice lightly. For above the clamour and competition of the political parties, beyond the slogans and the posters, the rallies and the speechmaking, lies the future of our country. That future will be in our hands as we place our cross on the ballot paper on Wednesday June 2nd. But it will remain in our hands long after those ballots have been cast and counted.

Election Day, June 2nd must be the beginning of a process not the end. A process which will see the government working hand in hand with our communities to build the new South Africa.

Political parties which dare to claim that they can solve the problems of crime, unemployment and poverty, without the involvement of the people, are whispering worthless words into the wind. They do not deserve your vote.

The IFP elephant comes to you today with a different message from our political opponents. It is a message of partnership with the people; a message of hope, a message that things can and will be better if you put your cross by the IFP elephant.

The IFP says that the next government must become the champion of a Revolution of Goodwill which will spread throughout our country, rising up from the community, promoting individual responsibility and commitment to our families, our work-places and our communities.

Through this revolution of goodwill we can and shall rebuild the social and moral foundations of South African society. Indolence must be swept aside. Corruption must be rooted out. The culture of lawlessness, greed and rebellion must be banished from our land and from the hearts and souls of all who have fallen prey to its temptations.

A new spirit of self-discipline and self-sacrifice must be embraced by every citizen of South Africa. Then the government, in partnership with the people, can set about building a South Africa united in peace and prosperity; committed to the advancement and uplifting of all our people and respectful of the rights of all.

This is the message of Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s revolution of goodwill. It is a message that contains hope but also calls for sacrifices, social discipline and hard work.

Partnership with the people is the vital ingredient that has been missing from the approach of the ruling party over the past five years.

In 1994 the ruling party promised that it could change the lives of the people overnight. They promised "jobs, jobs, jobs". They promised a million new houses. They promised economic growth and increasing prosperity. They promised water. They promised electricity. They promised telephones.

But what have they delivered? They have delivered "unemployment, unemployment, unemployment" – half a million jobs lost in the formal sector since they took the helm.

They have not even come close to their promise of a million new homes and many of the houses that they did build are inadequate for the needs of the people and are falling down already.

They have delivered economic stagnation instead of economic growth and prosperity.

Where they have delivered electricity it is often too expensive for the communities to pay the bills. Where they delivered telephone connections, many have now been cut off, again because the people could not afford the costs of the service.

Their schemes for delivering water supplies have often been developed without consultation with the people they are supposed to serve. Their failure to listen to the wisdom of the people means that schemes have been built at great expense, which fail to serve the real needs of the people and impose expenses that cannot be borne by our communities.

The promises they made, were promises that they could not and did not deliver. They were promises that were broken because they were made in the arrogant assumption that Government knew everything and that the people knew nothing.

There is still much to do if we are to build in South Africa a society that we can all be proud of. But we must not be disheartened. The people of South Africa have shown themselves to be a very special people capable of great achievements. Together we can and will get things right in our country:

Water can be supplied. Crime can be defeated. Electricity can be connected.

Poverty can be alleviated. Houses can be constructed. Jobs can be created.

But only if every one of us puts our heart and soul into building the new South Africa; only if government draws on the strength, wisdom and participation of the people.

The IFP knows what needs to be done because the IFP is the party which listens to the people and tells the people the truth. Only by casting your vote for the IFP elephant will you be able to ensure that words are replaced by actions; that good intentions are translated into concrete achievements.

The IFP elephant, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, knows that it is only by being truthful about the serious problems that face South Africa and working together with the people to solve these problems that we will build in South Africa a united, prosperous and peaceful society. This has been the message that he has taken to the people for the past forty years.

Mangosuthu Buthelezi has stood firm for the truth, every hour, of every day of his political life. He stood firm for the truth when it was unpopular to do so. He stood firm for the truth when it was dangerous to do so and he stands as firm for the truth today as on the first day of his political career.

Unlike other politicians he has not had to tear up his beliefs or perform political somersaults with the dawning of the new democratic dispensation.

He is a man of conviction; a man of consistency and a man of courage.

So today I urge every South African:

Cast your vote for the revolution of goodwill.

Cast your vote for the man you can trust with the future of South Africa.

The IFP Elephant, Mangosuthu Buthelezi