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Address By
The Hon. Mr Velenkosini Hlabisa MP
President of the Inkatha Freedom Party
Umhlathuze Sports Complex, Richard’s Bay: 26 May 2024
The Deputy President of the IFP, the Hon. Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi MP;
Our National Chairperson, the Hon. Mr Blessed Gwala MPL;
Deputy National Chairperson, the Hon. Mrs Thembeni kaMadlopha-Mthethwa MPL;
Our Secretary General, the Hon. Mr Siphosethu Ngcobo MP;
Deputy Secretary-General, the Hon. Mr Albert Mncwango;
Treasurer General, and Chairperson of the National Campaign Committee, the Hon. Mr Narend Singh MP;
General Secretary of Administration, Mr Mfanje Mbango;
Our National Organiser, the Reverend Magcaba;
National Chairperson of the IFP Women’s Brigade, the Hon. Princess Phumzile Buthelezi MPL, and her Executive;
National Chairperson of the IFP Youth Brigade, the Hon. Mr Sanele Zondo MP, and the Executive of the Youth Brigade;
Inkosi of the Buthelezi Clan and the Family of our late Founder and President Emeritus, the Prince of KwaPhindangene;
The Hlabisa family;
Abantwana baseNdlunkulu;
Traditional Prime Minister to the Zulu Monarch and Nation;
Amakhosi asendlunkulu;
KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Chairperson and the IFP’s Premier candidate for KwaZulu-Natal, the Hon. Mr Thami Ntuli;
Gauteng Provincial Chairperson, the Hon. Mr Bonginkosi Dlamini MPL;
Our Members of Parliament and Members of the Provincial Legislatures;
Our Mayors, Speakers, Deputy Speakers and Councillors;
Candidates standing for election to represent this great Party;
Our faithful members, friends, Amakhosi and supporters;
Members of the media;
And comrades in the shared struggle to rebuild South Africa.
The prize for which we have all been working is finally in sight. Just days from now, the future of South Africa will be taken from the hands of the few and placed in the hands of the people. 27.6 million voters will choose the leaders of a new Government, bringing fundamental change to South Africa. The 29 May elections must be a watershed moment and a turning point away from unemployment, crime, loadshedding, corruption and poor service delivery.
Since the launch of our 2024 Election Manifesto at Moses Mabida Stadium on 10 March 2024, the IFP leadership and volunteers have been criss-crossing the country, meeting voters face to face; from village to village, district to district, and province to province. In the transit camps, informal settlements, deep rural areas and some townships, the conditions under which the majority of the people of South Africa live are very bad.
Today, we are winding up our election campaign, as the special votes begin tomorrow. We are here to declare that the IFP is ready to receive the mandate of the people to lead, to serve and to govern. The time is now for an alternative government that will bring meaningful change and save South Africa from being a collapsed state.
There is nothing more urgently needed, at this present crossroads, than a leadership South Africa can trust.
Looking back over the past few months, I am proud of the campaign that the IFP has waged. We have entered these elections in the spirit of integrity that has always characterised the IFP. We have focussed, not on the weaknesses of our opponents, but on the strengths of the IFP. We have provided in our Manifesto, not merely promises of what we will do, but a track record of what we have already done.
We have given South Africa reasons to Trust Us. We have given you reasons to partner with the IFP as together we rebuild South Africa.
For the past few months, the eyes of the nation have been focussed on elections. Everywhere we look, we see campaign posters imploring us to vote for this or that party. Radio and TV stations have been filled with debates and analysis, while call-in programmes gave voice to many diverging views. Of all the campaigns since 1994, this has been the most talked about, visible and fluid, giving voters an enormous amount of food for thought.
The reason that this election campaign has grabbed our attention to such a degree is because we stand on the threshold of a fundamental change of government. The entire leadership of our country is set to change as voters will reject the government that has failed them, and elect a leadership they can trust.
I want to thank the media for the great job they have done in getting information to the people. Both through traditional media and social media, reporters, journalists and editors have covered every angle of every story, driving an important national debate. I am also grateful to the many NGOs, like the Centre for Early Childhood Development, as well as faith-based organisations and professional bodies, for organising debates and inviting political leaders to engage with communities so that our communities can make informed decisions when they vote.
South Africans have engaged this campaign with enthusiasm, getting involved in the debate and making their voices heard.
Today, as we reach the end of formal campaigning, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the thousands of volunteers in every province who took up the call to campaign for the IFP. Without you, dear volunteers, the IFP’s message could never have reached as deep and as far as it has, bringing hope to a struggling people.
Our late Founder always urged us, right from the start, to ensure that the structures of the IFP are strong and active, providing a role for every IFP member to make their contribution. We see now, in the strength of our branches, the enormous benefit of active, engaged and involved supporters. This is not a party for a few in high positions. The IFP is truly the Party of the people.
Throughout this campaign, I have witnessed again and again how effective we are as a cohesive team, each playing our individual parts in one campaign, with one goal.
I am proud of our Youth Brigade, of our Women’s Brigade, and of all our leaders who pulled their weight, never resting and never taking their eye off the prize. I am proud, in particular, of the campaign we have waged throughout, maintaining the high moral ground even when our opponents began their usual tricks of mudslinging and abusing State resources.
I must say a special word of thanks to our team in Communications, who tirelessly worked to keep our message front and centre, and to empower people with an understanding of the IFP. South Africans have seen the IFP’s message of hope everywhere, even up in the sky as our banner was raised over cities and towns. They have followed us as we went from community to community. They have listened and watched and shared, because the IFP is not just the voice of reason: the IFP speaks from the heart.
I mention all these people because I know how hard we have worked to secure the IFP’s success in these elections. We have done this because of what is at stake. We have done it for South Africa’s survival.
For thirty years our people have watched as South Africa was undermined by those who were entrusted to fulfil the promise of democracy. We have seen our country decline by every measure, becoming poorer, more dangerous, less stable, more debt-ridden, less just and less respected throughout the world.
The treasure we won in 1994 has been damaged and pillaged; not by a foreign enemy or an invading force, but by the people named in the Zondo Commission, people who sold out South Africa for their personal gain, people who are still sitting in high Government positions, people who are standing for election again.
The IFP has worked so hard to get our message out because we cannot stand by and watch our country destroyed. We must stand up as an alternative government; a government that South Africa can trust.
South Africans have been so engaged in this campaign because they are no longer willing to just shut their eyes and vote. They want to know what they are voting for. That speaks volumes about the maturing of democracy, as well as about our people’s discontent.
Sadly, it is that very discontent that has been at the centre of this election campaign. Many parties have capitalised on the frustration, fear and anger of South Africans, focussing their campaign on the failures and scandals and arrogance of the ruling Party, and the terrible crises it has birthed.
It is important that we talk about the staggering levels of unemployment and poverty, about the instability of our energy supply, about the deepening grip of criminality, about the breakdown of service delivery, about water shortages and price increases and gender-based violence. It is important that we talk about corruption, about institutionalised incompetence and maladministration, and about massive tender fraud.
But in the end, we all know the crises we are facing. We all know the depth of the struggle in South Africa and the daily trauma so many endure. What our country needs to hear is that there is a way out; that there are people who know the way and are willing to lead us all to safety. That is the message of the IFP. It is that which sets us apart, because when the IFP speaks, we speak the truth.
Over the past two months, since we launched our Manifesto, the IFP has been actively engaging all South Africans on our solid plan to rebuild South Africa. I and all our IFP leaders have spoken to countless communities and fielded countless interviews and debates. It has been interesting to see how the IFP’s Manifesto sparked the imagination of both analysts and voters.
The IFP’s commitment to put South Africans first has been widely lauded. Our policy of reserving jobs for South Africans has been welcomed as an intervention that is long overdue, for this Government has been turning a blind eye to the growing phenomenon of low skill and entry level jobs being given overwhelmingly to foreign nationals.
We understand the hardship that is driving economic migrants to seek work in South Africa, and we maintain the deepest empathy with our brothers and sisters from across the continent. But South Africa itself is in crisis and we need to protect our own citizens from hunger, deprivation and despair, before we can help anyone else.
Another aspect of the IFP’s policy that had been widely discussed is our commitment to roll out an Unemployed Graduate Grant of R3000 for a fixed period to enable those already equipped with skills to enter the labour market and grow our economy, finding meaningful work.
The IFP has been celebrated for our commitment to place graduates in 12-month internships in municipalities and provincial and national departments, redirecting some of the billions spent on SETAs to ensure that graduates do not sit at home, while the economy suffers.
When I spoke with young people during my campaign stops, they told me how important it is to them to access basic Wi-Fi and Internet services. To do their homework and their work. To become content creators and young media personalities.
Many in urban South African forget that rural South Africans still do not have cell reception and cannot access the Internet. Let alone connect to the television. These young people are deprived of opportunity. They cannot just simply send an application for work to government or to businesses online, because they do not even have the tools to do so.
The IFP will change this as we have said in our Manifesto: we will push for a 50% reduction in data costs. It is an indictment on the current administration that we have gone on like this as a country and still have the most expensive data rates on the continent.
Among the manifestos of various parties, the IFP’s Manifesto has been recognised by economists for being practical, feasible and sound. Unlike those who would bankrupt our country to win the popular vote, the IFP is walking a road that will build South Africa while serving South Africans. We are doing this because we are not in it for power. We are in this to serve.
Friends, we must speak about the sudden and entirely predictable halt to loadshedding. How, after 17 years of rolling blackouts, can the lights suddenly stay on for two months? And every time we turn on the radio, another official is claiming that this has nothing to do with elections.
If it were not so damaging to South Africa, we would surely laugh. But the truth is that our country will be thrust into darkness just as Winter sets in, because this temporary halt to rolling blackouts is costing us millions that we do not have, just for the sake of politics. It is unconscionable that Government would not only lie, but wilfully put our people in danger, distress and debt.
The IFP will end loadshedding completely. We will transform the energy sector in our country, and we will endeavour to reduce the cost of fuel, by delinking RAF levies and other government taxes from the petrol price.
It is time that our country moves over through a just energy transition. Let us open the markets for manufacturing and distribution of clean energy products and let us become the game changers on the continent to do so.
The IFP is committed to make, on behalf of our people and in partnership with our people, lasting change that will have a real impact on people’s lives. Tangible change whereby they can see the difference in communities.
I urge you to consider the track record of the IFP, against the list of failures the ruling party has produced. Let us not vote with our emotions. Let us vote based on facts. Let us vote based on our current realities.
The ruling party has compromised our country many times over, most recently by signing into law a Bill that cannot be implemented. The National Health Insurance Act has been signed by President Ramaphosa just days before the election, despite there being no plan to fund it. Knowing that there will be constitutional challenges, and facing a massive backlash, the Presidency immediately declared that the President is still willing to listen to the experts he has ignored. Why did the President not listen to the experts before signing the Bill?
The IFP, on record, believes in universal healthcare access. But the recently signed NHI Act is a failure from the start. It will meet legal challenges, it has no funding plan, the single fund administered by the national government will be exposed to corruption. For effective and efficient provision of healthcare, the IFP believes that universal health coverage must be decentralised to the provinces.
The problem right now is that time is not in abundant supply. We have run out of time to give liars and thieves the space to change their ways. If we do not rid ourselves of corrupt leaders in 2024, South Africa will not survive.
Over the last three months, politicians have spoken. Analysts have spoken. Thought leaders in the media have had their say. There has been more said in this campaign than in any that has come before.
But the final word will speak the loudest, and the final word belongs to you.
On Wednesday morning, polling stations will open across South Africa. Every voter will be asked to vote. The world will be waiting with bated breath to see what happens to this once glorious country, that has been devoured by its own leaders. The IFP is calling upon all the people of South Africa to rise up and change the Government of the day by voting the IFP. Your vote for change, your vote for the IFP, will be a vote to secure the future of our country.
Friends, I can tell you one thing for sure. There are millions among us who deeply care about our country, who are calling on a leadership of integrity to help us rebuild. These are IFP people, some long-time supporters, some new to our family and some merely lending their vote to the strongest Party. They know, as we all do, that the IFP is the hope of South Africa.
I and the leadership of the IFP have done all we can to protect the future of our country. It is now in your hands. I call on you to vote on the 29th of May. Put your protest in the ballot box, by voting IFP. On all three ballot papers, vote for leaders you can trust. Vote IFP, IFP, IFP, so that in generations to come we can look on this as the moment we saved South Africa.
We have done this for Shenge, because he did it for you. This is the time for the IFP.
Mphathi Wohlelo
Namhlanje sihlangene lapha ukuba sizophothula umkhankaso wethu wokhetho olungomhlaka 29 May 2024.
Lolukhetho luzoqala kusasa luqhubeke nangolwesibili kuvota labo ababhalisele ukuba ngama – special votes. Ukhetho olukhulu lapho zonke izigidi zabavoti base – Ningizimu ne-Africa bezovukela ezikhungweni zokhetho ukuba beyokhipha uHulumeni owehlulekile bavotele uHulumeni omusha, ozoba nomasu nokucabanga okusha.
Umhlaka 29 May usuku oluyinqayizivele ezweni lethu. Usuku lokhetho lomkhumalajezi. Ngolwesithathu, mhlaka 29 May, bonke abantu baseNingizimu ne-Afrika, abadwebe umuqga phansi bethi sekwenele ukuba intsha ihlale emakhaya neziqu ingasebenzi, amaphupho ayo eshabalale usuku nosuku.
Sekwenele ukuba bethi ugesi sebewukhokhele ngemali yabo uphindwe uthathwe uhulumeni ngaphansi kohlelo lwe loadshedding esaziyo ukuthi luzobuya kusukela mhlaka 01 June, ngemuva kokhetho. Sekwenele ukuba abantu besifazane nezingane zethu behlale ezweni elingaphephile.
Abantu baseNingizimu ne-Africa sebekhombise kaningi ukunganeliseki kwabo. Babhikishile bavala imigwaqo ngamatshe, bashisa namathayi kodwa abasizakali ezidingweni zabo. Ngomhlaka 29 May usuku olukhulu lokuba abantu base-Ningizimu ne-Afrika babhikishe ngevoti labo. Asambeni sonke sithathe umbikisho wethu siyenawo kumaballot box, sifike simkhiphe ngevoti owenza izingane zethu zihlale emakhaya zingasebenzi, simkhiphe ngevoti osihlalisa ebumnyameni ugesi sesiwukhokhele, simkhiphe ngevoti osihlalisa emijondolo nakolindela engasakheli izindlu ezisinika isithunzi esifanele nokuhlonipheka, simkhiphe ngevoti okhonjwe umbiko ka-Zondo Commission ukuthi uyathinteka ezenzweni zenkohlakalo nokusebenzisa budedengu izigidi gidi zemali yethu.
IQembu leNkatha Yenkululeko selikulungele ukuba uhulumeni wesifundazwe sakwaZulu-Natali, ukuba inxenye yokuphathwa kukahulumeni wase-Gauteng nokuba inxenye yokuphathwa kukahulumeni omkhulu wezwe lethu. Amaphuzu ethu alishumi nantathu ezethembiso zokhetho ayisu nesixazululo esizodala amathuba omsebenzi, intsha yakithi izoba seqhulwini lwezinhlelo zethu. Intsah yakithi izothola ukuqeqeshwa ngokwemfundo yamakhono ( vocational education and training )
Bonke abaneziqu bazothola isibonelelo sika – R3000 izinyanga ezilishumi nambili ngesikhathi esafuna umsebenzi. Lemali izomelekelela ukuthenga i-airtime, afake izicelo zomsebenzi aphinde ahambele inhloko khono (interviews). Esikhathini esingangonyaka akekho umuntu oneziqu ozohlala ekhaya engasebenzi futhi engasitholi isibonelelo sikaHulumeni.
Abantu besifazane bazoba seqhulwini lwezinhlelo zethu zokubeseka sibathuthukise njengezinsika zokuhweba nokuthuthukiswa komnotho. Bawumgogodla womnotho wendawo ( LED ). Noma lina, libalele kumakhaza yibo abesifazane obathola emakethe behweba ukuze ntambamo kube khona ukudla emindenini eyehlukene.
I-IFP ayizukulokhu icima iphinde ikhanyise kodwa izoyiqede nya i-loadshedding, sizodala imiphakathi ephephile lapho bonke abantu besifazane nezingane zethu zizophila impilo ephephile ngoba ubugebengu namasela sizobhekana nawo ngeziqu zoboya.
Sizonikezela ngemfundo yeqophelo nenqalasizinda nezinsiza kufundisa ezizokhiqisa intsha enolwazi namakhono athuthukisiwe. Iqembu le-IFP liphikisana nalomnyama ongenafu i-NHI act esayinwe uMengameli wezwe seliyoshona ngoba eqonde ukudlala ngemizwa yabantu baseNingizimu ne-Africa. Bonke abantu abanolwazi futhi abaziqondayo izinto bayazi ukuthi lomthetho osanda kusayinwa ufana negobongo elingenalutho.
I-IFP iyakholelwa kwi-universal healthcare access kubo bonke abantu baseNingizimu ne-Afrika. Uma singanikwa ithuba ngevoti lakho, sizohlinzeka ngezempilo eziseqophelweni elifanayo kuwowonke umuntu oyisakhamuzi saseNingizimu ne-Afrika ngokuba sakhe futhi silungise inqalasizinda yezibhedlela nemtholampilo ezoba nabahlengikazi nodokotela beqophelo eduze lapho abantu bakithi behlala khona.
Sizoqeqesha siqashe ongoti abanele sithenge nemishini eyenele ukwelapha zonke izifo ezifana ezixakile ezifana nomdlavuza kunokuba abantu bakithi balinde isikhathi eside ukuba badluliselwe ezibhedlela ezinkulu futhi eziqhelile kubo.
Imboni yezamatekisi sizozinika ithuba lokuxoxisana nayo ukubheka nezinqinamba zikashanela, izimvume zemigqaqo Kanye nokuxhaswa kwebhizinisi labo.
Sizoqinisekisa ukuthi inqala sizinda yemigwaqo nolayini bezitimela iyanakekelwa ukuze ukuthuthwa kwempahla nomphakathi nabasebenzi kukwazi ukufukula umnotho ukuze kudaleke amathuba emisebenzi. Umthetho Ingonyama Trust sizowuvikela ukuba uthuthukiswe futhi ube isibonelo indlela umhlaba ongaphansi kwamakhosi neSilo samabandla ungaphathwa kanjani, uthuthukiswe futhi ugcine unikeze ilungelo lobunikazi emakhosini nezakhamuzi.
Isakhiwo sobukhosi sizosilwela ukuba umthetho sisekelo ucacise ngokupheleleyo amandla nemisebenzi ( roles, functions and responsibilities ) yamakhosi. Isimo sokuphepha kwamakhosi nezinduna kuyoba udaba lokuqala esiyoluhlinzeka ukuba luhlinzekwe ngesabelo mali. Imali yesibonelelo sempesheni yabadala, eyezingane ( child support grant ) kanye ne Social Relief of Distress grant ka-R350, incane kakhulu.
Siyonciphisa oNqonqoshe sivale namanye amaphini onqonqoshe bese imali iyokhuphula imali yempesheni, child support grant kanye no-R350 ukuze abantu bakithi abaliningi bathole isibonelelo esihambisana nesimo sentengo yempahla nokudla ezitolo. Ngesikhathi esifanayo senza lokho, siyogxila kakhulu ekudaleni amathuba omsebenzi ukuze siphungule abantu abaphila ngemali yesibonelelo kodwa basebenze ukuze bathole imali engcono eyiholo lokusebenza ukuze uhulumeni athwale labo abangenawo amandla okusebenza.
Ngenza inhlabamkhosi kubo bonke amavolontiya ethu, amalunga ethu, kubaholi be-IFP. Asambe siyonxenxa sigqugquzele wonke umvoti osekhaya, umakhelwane, kuzozonke izindawo : emsebenzini, eTaxi rank, eabantu baseNingizimu ne-Afrika abangu 27.6 million asabheni ngomhlaka 29 May siyovotela i-IFP. Sikulungele ukuba izwi lakho nohulumeni wakho. Mhlaka 29 May, kuzobe kuyiviki lesithathu enyangeni, kungolwesithathu evikini. Esikhungweni sokuvota uyofike uthole amaphepha amathathu okuvota, kuwo omathathu kuyobe kukhona izindlovu ezintathu. Fika uthi zakazaka eduze nendlovu kuwo omathathu.
Votela iQembu leNkatha Yenkululeko. IQembu le-IFP lehlukile kuwo onke amaqembu ezombusazwe. Asisenzi isethembiso esingeke sisifeze. Isethembiso esisenzayo siwumgomo wethu wokuzibophezela kuwe mvoti nesakhamuzi. Sethembe ngoba sisebenzela wena.
We do not make empty promises. Our promise is our commitment to you. You will hold us accountable for the next five years and if we fail to deliver, remove us in 2029.
The IFP calls upon all people of South Africa to stand up and say, this far and no further to more of the same. Thirty – three zero – 30, years is far too long to say, give us another 5 years.
