25th ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE IFP YOUTH BRIGADE


RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED

Emandleni-Matleng: August 29 -30, 2003

RESOLUTION 1: 

ROLE OF THE IFP YOUTH BRIGADE

Conference noting that:

  1. the IFP Youth Brigade is celebrating its 25th anniversary and its place as the vanguard in advocating non-violence in the struggle for political and economic liberation,
  2. the courage and determination of a generation of young elephants who swam against the consensus and fashion of their time, particularly in our opposition to "liberation now and education later" and articulating our belief of "education for liberation", and,
  3. that youth development has not received the attention it merits from Government;

RESOLVES:

  1. To remain true to the principles guiding the IFP Youth Brigade since 1978, and to strive with even greater resolve to ensure that issues affecting the youth take their rightful place on the national and party agenda,
  2. To call on Government to create a separate Ministry of Youth Affairs in order to co-ordinate the presently disjointed efforts at youth development and provide a cohesive vision,
  3. To build capacity within SADESMO to contest SRC elections effectively, and,
  4. To establish a record of remembrance and memorial to those who have served our cause and have gone ahead of us.


RESOLUTION 2: 

FIGHTING HIV/AIDS

Conference noting that:

  1. South Africa is one of the worst affected countries by HIV/AIDS with 4.2 million of its 43 million people being HIV positive and more than 1 700 people infected every day,
  2. the HIV/AIDS pandemic is affecting mostly the youth,
  3. the war against the scourge of HIV/AIDS can be won if people are immediately provided with the appropriate medical treatment, in particular anti-retroviral drugs, and with social support and a programme of preventative education,

RESOLVES:

  1. That the fight against HIV/AIDS is a top priority of the IFP Youth Brigade,
  2. That the Youth Brigade will actively participate in all community projects that seek to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and care for those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, such as home-based care programmes,
  3. To call upon members of the NEC to participate in a public awareness exercise by being tested for HIV,
  4. To work to eliminate notions of prejudice of 'them' and 'us' and embrace people living with HIV/AIDS with love and compassion,
  5. To call upon the National Government to breakout of its syndrome of apathy, denial and inaction to lead a national crusade in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and to follow the example of the IFP led KwaZulu-Natal provincial government to provide anti-retroviral drugs that prevent mother-to-child-transmission of the HIV/AIDS virus, and,
  6. To help bring about a transformation in young peoples' personal behaviour and values, such as abstinence.


RESOLUTION 3: 

ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION

Conference noting that:

  1. despite the laudable fiscal policies pursued by Government in line with international best practice, our economy is characterised by unemployment levels peaking at over 40%, dire levels of poverty particularly concentrated in the rural areas, and levels of inequality only exceeded by Brazil,
  2. the economic, technological and cultural impact of globalisation, and,
  3. that the destruction of the subsistence economy in provinces such as the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga since 1994 has further increased levels of poverty and hunger,

RESOLVES:

  1. To call upon the National Government to stop skewing resources in favour of urban areas and prioritise the development of the rural areas where the majority of the poorest live,
  2. To call upon the NEC to lobby the Party to explore the role of the state in developing countries, such as the 'Dragon economies' of South East Asia and Chile in South America, which have successfully designed policies that provided for accelerated economic growth and placed them on the fast-track of developing nations, and,
  3. To call upon National and Provincial Government to provide seed, tractors and training in order to revitalise the subsistence economy, following the example of the erstwhile KwaZulu government,
  4. To call upon all three spheres of government to disseminate information about SETA's and other skills development programmes, and, 
  5. To promote and co-ordinate self-help and self-reliance development programmes and entrepreneurial projects.


RESOLUTION 4: 

ROLE OF YOUTH IN ELIMINATING SOCIAL ILLS

Conference noting that:

  1. crime, corruption, poverty and unemployment are flourishing and threatening to undo the substantial gains made in the first nine years of our fledgling democracy,
  2. these social ills have caused many people to lose confidence in the democratic process and to feel disfranchised, and,
  3. the cycle of deprivation can only be broken by providing people with the tools of self-help and self-reliance

RESOLVES:

  1. To call upon all IFP Youth Brigade members to become actively involved in crime prevention programmes, particularly in community policing fora, and develop education programmes at community level,
  2. To exhort all IFP Youth Brigade members to be role models to their peers, and inculcate the understanding that crime does not pay,
  3. To call upon all South Africans to be whistleblowers to expose corruption wherever it might occur,
  4. To call upon the Education Minister of KwaZulu-Natal and the National Education Minister to incorporate the principle of Ubuntu-Botho into the schools curricula,
  5. To encourage youth to participate in the recently announced plans by Government to extend Public Works and poverty alleviation projects, and,
  6. To call upon Government to make small loans more accessible to the unemployed so they can create small businesses of their own.


RESOLUTION 5: 

PARTY MOBILISATION

Conference noting that:

  1. the next General Election is less than 9 months away and that if the IFP wins the people shall have won, and that a vote for an IFP victory is a vote cast for service delivery,
  2. all eighteen to twenty year olds will be voting for the first time and that figures issued by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) reveal that only one percent of eighteen year olds are currently registered as voters, and,
  3. the IEC has identified the weekend of 8 and 9 of November 2003 as a voter registration drive;

RESOLVES:

  1. 1. To call upon the IFPYB structures to embark upon an intensive voter registration programme and getting the voter to the polls on election day,
  2. To call upon the IFP leadership to be highly visible at social venues and forums,
  3. To work with the Department of Home Affairs to assist all eligible voters to obtain Identity Documents, and,
  4. To work unceasingly to increase our share of parliamentary seats in all nine provinces.


RESOLUTION 6: 

SERVANT-HOOD AND RECONCILIATION IN POLITICS.

Conference noting that:

  1. 1. the essence of politics is to serve, not to rule,
  2. since 1994 South Africa's political parties have sought, in the words of the Constitution, to 'transcend the divisions of the past'

RESOLVES:

  1. To call upon the NEC to help ensure that Party Lists are drawn up out of committed people with a track record of political integrity and who are rooted in their constituencies,
  2. To promote the Revolution of Goodwill as espoused by Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi to overcome the divisions of the past and unite the nation around shared values, and,
  3. To recognise that from time to time, especially in the heat of elections, political disagreements between parties will arise, but to always endeavour to disagree without being disagreeable.


RESOLUTION 7: 

CO-OPERATION WITH OTHER POLITICAL PARTIES

Conference noting that:

  1. the time is now ripe for a coalition for change that is not against any political party, but for the development of our country,
  2. the purpose for co-operation with other political parties must be for action which provides for the improvement of the material, social and spiritual condition of all our people, and,
  3. that the political courage of the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Dr L.P.H.M Mtshali, in constituting an IFP led multi-party government of the DA and the ANC, which provides a model for co-operative politics,

RESOLVES:

  1. To mobilise the electorate to vote for the IFP so that the coalition for change can become a reality,
  2. To call upon the NEC to organise a series of workshops to explain the IFP's approach to coalition configurations and governments to our members, and to ensure that our Party's support is not compromised,
  3. To call upon the NEC to ensure that the IFP identifies shared policy interventions and campaigns with other political parties and interest groups, without compromising the Party's unique identity and principles, and,
  4. To redouble our efforts to ensure that KwaZulu-Natal remains the bedrock of good governance that it is under the leadership of the IFP.


RESOLUTION 8: 

THE PARTY PRESIDENT

Conference noting that:

  1. it was the vision of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who has always moved with the times, that led to the establishment of the IFPYB a quarter-of-a-century ago,
  2. ever since Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi has been a marvellous source of inspiration and of good advice, and
  3. our President has always encouraged us to test the truth of our convictions, as an important element of the necessary renewal the IFP must always undertake
  4. And wishes God's richest blessings upon him, good health, happiness and a long life.