NATIONAL COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS

NATIONAL COUNCIL MEETING 30-31 March 2008

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE IFP NATIONAL COUNCIL

PUBLIC RESOLUTIONS

1. ESKOM

Noting Eskom’s ongoing load-shedding programme and the recently proposed drastic 53-percent hike in the price of electricity despite the considerable (R2-billion) increase in state funding for the parastatal as announced in the budget;

the IFP National Council resolves to voice the party’s concerns about the effect of these measures on South Africa’s growth potential, on the lives of the country’s poor and on the worsened inflation outlook for the economy.

2. THE ARMS DEAL

Noting the mooted amnesty for government officials who may have benefited from the controversial arms deal;

the IFP National Council resolves to distance the party from any attempt at any level of governance for an arms deal cover-up.

3. THE ZIMBABWEAN ELECTION

Noting the concerns of the political opposition and human rights organisations about the prospect of a free and fair poll in Zimbabwe and the statements by Zimbabwe’s top security personnel to the effect that they would not accept an alternative to President Robert Mugabe;

the IFP National Council resolves to express the party’s concern about the context within which the elections were held and to urge the Zimbabwean authorities to honour the outcome of the election.

4. UGANDA

Noting the progress in reconciliation talks between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the government of Uganda which has paved the way for a peace deal;

the IFP National Council resolves to applaud this development which will effectively end a decades old conflict that has hampered all socio-economic development in Uganda.

5. KENYA

Noting the long-awaited agreement to form a Government of National Unity reached between Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki and the opposition leader Raila Odinga;

the IFP National Council resolves to congratulate the leaders involved on this solid move towards political stability in Kenya and the wider region.

6. DARFUR

Noting the lack of progress towards a resolution of the shameful Darfur conflict;

the IFP National Council resolves to call on the South African government and other influential stakeholders to maximise their efforts in bringing pressure on the Sudanese government to end the conflict.

7. BAFANA-BAFANA

Noting Bafana-Bafana’s recent victory against Paraguay;

the IFP National Council resolves to congratulate our National Team and call on South African soccer administration to do everything in their power to improve the prospects of Bafana-Bafana ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

8. TIBET

Noting the escalating confrontation between the Chinese government and Tibetans in Lhasa and in exile in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing;

the IFP National Council resolves to call on the government of People’s Republic of China to take bold steps towards the peaceful resolution of the Tibetan question, to allow the Dalai Lama to return safely to the country of his birth, and to cultivate a neglected culture of human rights across China.

9. THE MIDDLE EAST

Noting the latest set-back in the progress towards lasting peace in the Middle East;

the IFP National Council resolves to encourage the Israeli government, the Palestinian representatives, and the superpowers to intensify their efforts towards a speedy resolution to this decades long conflict.

10. THE FREE STATE UNIVERSITY VIDEO

Noting the despicable incident of naked racism at the University of the Free State;

the IFP National Council resolves to condemn the incident in the strongest language and to urge the university authorities and the Ministry of Education to do everything in their respective powers to prevent manifestations of racism in schools and in the academia which threaten to take South Africa backwards.

11. INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION (IEC)

The IFP National Council resolves

to express its concerns regarding perceptions of bias and lack of true independence on the part of the IEC from the palpable influence of the ruling party; to urge the IEC to seriously consider the manual method of counting and tallying votes at the IEC headquarters if the 2009 and future elections are to be accepted without dispute as a reliable and true outcome of the people’s will given the real risk of the possibility of the manipulation of results in the currently used electronic method of capturing votes; and to voice its objection to the deployment by the IEC of teachers who are members of SADTU, a political ally of the ruling party.