RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE IFP NATIONAL COUNCIL

1.        XENOPHOBIC ATTACKS IN GAUTENG


Noting, with shock and disgust, the ongoing xenophobic attacks that have gripped the Alexandria, Diepsloot and Thokoza townships and elsewhere in Gauteng, the IFP National Council resolves to:

*           condemn in the strongest terms xenophobia in principle and specifically attacks on foreign nationals of African descent;

*           deny any responsibility whatsoever for and distance the IFP from the ongoing attacks on foreign nationals at Alexandria, Diepsloot, Thokoza and elsewhere; and

*           take exception with the Alexandria ANC leadership's fingering of the IFP as a perpetrator in these attacks without a shred of evidence.
 




2.         ESCALATING FOOD PRICES



Noting the steady increase in the price of basic foods in the past year and further noting that complaints about the spiralling food prices now routinely overtake concerns about service delivery in most meetings of elected IFP representatives with the public, the IFP National Council resolves to: 

*           reject in principle any price-fixing mechanisms that distort domestic food production incentives and create immediate inflationary pressures;

*           support, in the short-term, the government-proposed targeted safety-nets for the most vulnerable citizens, such as food vouchers, based on the IFP's consistent advocacy of measures that boost the purchasing power of the poor within the framework of an unhindered enterprise economy; and

*           promote, in the long-term, a correctly-balanced land reform, addressing the declining investment in agriculture and, specifically in KwaZulu Natal, reversing the chronic mismanagement in the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs.
 




3.         ESKOM CRISIS



Noting Eskom's ongoing difficulties in meeting the country's demand for electricity, despite the current relief from the company's load shedding schedule, and further noting that the wider electricity crisis is a direct result of Eskom's mismanagement and the government's lack of accountability for it which has led to a serious loss of confidence in Eskom's ability to manage its own affairs, both financial and operational, the IFP National Council resolves to: 

*           welcome the government's decision not to grant Eskom its extravagant demand for a 53% consumer price increase but, at the same time, to

*           caution against the government's pledge to inject billions of taxpayer rands into the parastatal over the next five years without a guarantee that the increased subsidy for Eskom will not simply lead to further mismanagement, assisted by the government's inaction as witnessed in the past.
 




4.         THE SCORPIONS



Noting the government's determination to remove the relative autonomy of the Scorpions within the Ministry of Justice and incorporate this investigative team into the SAPS and further noting the multi-party attempt in the National Assembly to arrest this development through legal channels, the IFP National Council resolves to:

*           agitate in the public and the media against the government's move to compromise this by far the most effective corruption-busting body within our criminal justice system; and

*           join and play an active part in the multi-party efforts in the National Assembly to question the merits and legality of this move in the wider interests of South Africa's fight against crime.
 




5.        SABC CRISIS



Noting the politically-motivated implosion of management and governance at the SABC, as manifested by a recent series of suspensions of top managers including the CEO, the IFP National Council resolves to:

*           publicly voice the vindication of the IFP's consistent view that the current SABC Board, which our representative voted against last year at parliamentary committee level, now no longer commands the confidence of the entire parliamentary portfolio committee;

*           continue to argue with growing authority in the public and the media that the government's attempts to portray the SABC as an independent institution are hollow and that the ongoing ruling party interference in the public broadcaster's internal affairs points to the contrary; and

*           advocate a truly independent SABC Board consisting of media professionals and academics without political party affiliation.




6.         RENAMING OF MANGOSUTHU HIGHWAY



Noting the latest attempt by the ANC-controlled eThekwini Council to rename Mangosuthu Highway in Umlazi on the grounds that Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, whose name the highway bears, is a living person, the IFP National Council resolves to:

*        reject with force the ruling party's argument with reference to countless public places across South Africa which are named after Nelson Mandela or Albertina Sisulu who are also still alive; and

*        fight the council decision by political and procedural means while engaging the public and the media.




7.        THE CONTROVERSIAL HISTORY TEXTBOOK
 


Noting the use and ongoing distribution in schools of the controversial Grade 12 history textbook In Search of History which deliberately portrays IFP President Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi and the party in a negative light using a derogatory cartoon, and further noting the series of marches by IFP supporters who demanded that the textbook be retracted by the Ministry of Education, the IFP National Council resolves to:

*           congratulate the marchers and organisers on the successful and newsworthy events which saw the IFP memorandum delivered to the Minister of Education.