SPECIAL CONFERENCE OF THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY
UMLAZI INDOOR SPORTS CENTRE: DURBAN April 8, 2006
RESOLUTIONS
The special conference of the IFP met in Durban on April 8 2006 and unanimously adopted the following resolutions:
RESOLUTION 1: Noting the performance of the party during the recent municipal elections
Conference:
1) Salutes members of the party who worked tirelessly to ensure our electoral success;
2) Acknowledges the overwhelming mandate the party received from voters to govern 32 out of 61 municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal;
3) Commits all IFP elected councillors to remain faithful to the Pledge of honour, service and delivery
4) Laments the inadequate political contribution made by some of our leaders during the election campaign
5) Pledges to intensify efforts to grow the IFP in areas where the party did not do well, working from the standpoint that every member and leader of the IFP is an organiser for the party.
RESOLUTION 2: Alarmed at the widespread voting fraud and irregularities that continue to take place election after election
Conference:
1) Condemns the unabated attack on voters’ hard-earned freedom and democratic rights by the IEC and its officials;
2) Calls upon the IEC to launch a full-scale investigation into the widespread electoral fraud and vote-rigging that occurred in the recent municipal elections;
3) Requests all IFP members to be vigilant at all times so as to enable the party to effectively deal with electoral fraud as and when it arises.
4) Calls for a complete overhaul of the IEC in its present structure and operations as it continues to be biased towards the government of the day;
5) Calls upon the IEC to stop employing members of SADTU in the management of voting stations as they are clearly biased.
RESOLUTION 3: Observing the devastating blow that floor-crossing has inflicted on democracy
Conference:
1) Supports all civil society campaigns against floor-crossing;
2) Welcomes the recent media calls for floor-crossing to be reviewed;
3) Instructs the leadership of the party to pursue all legal and political means available to campaign for the scrapping of the floor-crossing legislation.
RESOLUTION 4: Cognisant of the IFP’s role as the conscience of a government steeped in moral decay
Conference:
1) Asserts the role of the IFP as the vanguard of South Africa’s democracy
2) Commits our party to continuing the struggle for economic liberation, poverty eradication and moral renewal
3) Rejects all attempts by the ANC to develop South Africa into a one-party state ravaged by crime, HIV/AIDS and corruption
4) Accepts the mantle cast upon the IFP by history to remain outside of the ANC so as to strengthen our country’s pursuit of integrity, dedication and sacrifice in public service
RESOLUTION 5: Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi
Conference:
1) Thanks His Excellency the President for using his constitutional prerogative to call this special conference;
2) Appreciates the necessity for the calling of this conference to review the Party’s performance in the recent local elections and to test support for his leadership of the Party as an established practice in democratic societies worldwide
3) Applauds him for dedicating his life to the pursuit of a prosperous and democratic South Africa
4) Renews his mandate to lead the party and reaffirms its overwhelming support of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s leadership of the IFP until the expiry of the full term of leadership in 2009
5) Condemns political analysts and media columnists who have called for his resignation without the political and moral legitimacy to do so;
6) Believes that the challenges facing the party can be overcome through the type of leadership that only Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi can provide at this time;
7) Calls upon all members of the Party to close ranks and unite behind Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s leadership, and to provide him with unflinching support for the sake of our Nation.
