27th ANNUAL CONFERENCE of the I F P YOUTH BRIGADE ON THE THEME
“IFP YOUTH DRIVEN BY COURAGE, COMMITMENT AND CONVICTION”
Ulundi October 21-23, 2005
RESOLUTIONS
The Annual Conference of the I F P Youth Brigade met in Ulundi on this 22nd day of October and unanimously adopted the following
RESOLUTION 1: PRINCE MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI
Conference:
Enjoying three decades of the energetic and youthful leadership of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi and his courage as a statesman, commitment as the champion of the poorest of the poor in both the rural and urban areas and as the ultimate conviction politician:
Resolves:
- To express our thanks and love to our President for all that he has done for the youth of this country and for showing that democracy is attainable and must be nurtured if it is to thrive; and,
- To offer our unstinting support to our President’s leadership and further renewal and regeneration of the IFP.
RESOLUTION 2: NEW FACES OF YOUTH BRIGADE
Conference:
Noting that for the first time in our nation’s history the Youth Executive were elected directly by the Conference:
Resolves:
- To congratulate our new Executive and wish them well as they tackle the challenges of leadership.
RESOLUTION 3: LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Conference:
Noting that the youth of the Party have an indispensable role to play in securing a resounding victory in the forthcoming local government elections:
Resolves:
- That our election campaign must be relevant and therefore about delivery of basic services that fall within the competence of local government such as municipal health services and the provision of water and sanitation; That for the sake of our constituents that this election must produce IFP councillors who will best manage them in their day-to-day interaction with the community;
- That we undertake intensive voter registration on the next registration day; That extraordinary efforts are made to regain every single ward that the IFP has lost in by-elections and floor-crossing over the past five years by door-to-door canvassing and getting people, particularly, the elderly to vote on election day;
- That the IFP-led councils make every effort to communicate to their constituents their record of service delivery over the past five years; and, That the forthcoming Local Government Elections will be our springboard to regain control of KwaZulu-Natal in 2009 creating an unstoppable momentum for an IFP victory.
RESOLUTION 4: RADICAL EDUCATION REFORM
Conference:
Noting that the IFP has always championed the need for education and, unlike the ANC that once promoted “liberation before education”, has consistently stood for “education for liberation”; and,
Transformation driven by ideology has diminished the quality of education in our country by undermining the system as well as individual performance achieved under the system.
Resolves:
- To motivate for a meaningful overhaul of South Africa’s flawed education system through SADESMO in tertiary institutions, and through our elected representatives in the media; and,
- To throw our weight behind our Party as it prepares a comprehensive reform of the education system promoting a tax-funded voucher system whereby government subsidies schools of parents’ choice in strict proportion to enrolment.
RESOLUTION 5: MAJOR CHALLENGES
Conference:
Noting that the ANC governing alliance is fracturing and that the ANC is no longer the electoral juggernaut that it was in the last three general elections and that this leaves South Africa with a huge leadership gap as the government appears to have run out of ideas and steam:
Resolves:
- That the IFP, who are moral and constructive government-in-waiting, must seize this opportunity and maximise its efforts to rethink its strategy, refashion its public policies with modern and dynamic alternatives;
- Not to seek political capital out of the Jacob Zuma affair; and
- To work to restore a respect agenda amongst our youth and to condemn the yobbish behaviour meted out to KwaZulu-Natal Premier S’bu Ndebele by supporters of his own party.
RESOLUTION 6: HIV/AIDS
Conference:
Noting that from a statistical perspective, the HIV/Aids pandemic has not reached its turning point in its growth trajectory. On the contrary, in KwaZulu-Natal the incidence of HIV/Aids has grown to 40.5 percent suggesting that all previous to promote prevention by abstinence alone has failed:
Resolves:
- That the IFP Youth Brigade will work to stimulate a paradigm shift to change the perception of Aids as a lethal disease and dispel the stigma of its sufferers by promoting the manageability of the disease as a chronic condition; and
- To campaign to dispel the myth of a virgin cure, educate boys and girls about controlling their sexual relationships, and to do our bit to assist orphans and children who head households.
RESOLUTION 7: “IFP MUST GROW”
Conference:
Noting that many obituaries that predicted our political demise following the 2004 electoral setback have failed to deliver what their authors intended and, eighteen months on, the IFP is alive, well and growing.
Resolves:
- To defy all our critics and detractors and to demonstrate that we are a growing and vibrant party; and,
- To urge the IFP members, public representatives, party officials and activists to use every available forum to further our claim to be the government in KwaZulu-Natal and the Official Opposition in the National Assembly in 2009.