NATIONAL ELECTION MANIFESTO LAUNCH
OF THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY
AHEAD OF THE 2019 NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS
ADDRESS BY
PRINCE MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI MP
PRESIDENT OF THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY
Chatsworth: 10 March 2019

There is a moment in South Africa that comes once every five years. It is the
moment when people from across our nation become absolutely equal. The wealthy
and the poor, the young and the old, the rural and the urban; we all get the same
chance to cast our vote, and every vote carries equal weight. This is democracy in its
purest form, and it happens on election day.
In our young democracy, we have had five National and Provincial Elections. On the
8th of May 2019, we will have the sixth. On that day, just eight weeks from now,
voting stations will open across South Africa and you will have the chance to shape
the future.
An array of political parties will be vying for your support. Your vote decides who is
best suited to lead the governance of our country and our provinces. It decides who
will be responsible for resolving the problems that still linger after 25 years of
freedom.
It is time to decide what you will do with your vote.
Political parties both large and small have launched their manifestos. You know what
they are promising. You have heard their opinions, and you’ve had a chance to
digest their rhetoric. Now, you are ready to hear the truth.
Today the IFP is going to tell you what can really be done to fix South Africa’s
problems. We will explain what needs to be done, why it needs to be done, and what
we will do, with your support.
The IFP has a simple message, one you will be familiar with: Trust Us.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel with catchy slogans. We are still saying “Trust
Us” because integrity is still at the heart of the IFP, and it’s still the foundation for
building social justice and economic justice for all South Africans.

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 We understand the simple truth that the economic salvation promised by political
freedom has not materialised despite all the promises and all the talk-shops and all
the resources thrown at the problem. What’s missing is the right value system.
Without the right value system, the leadership of our country is bound to fail.
This is what makes the IFP different. We place values ahead of politics, and people
ahead of power. The IFP has a sound value system that underpins all our policies,
actions and words. We believe in inclusive participation, in governance through
partnerships, in building social cohesion, in fairness, in constitutionalism and the rule
of law, in patriotism and in honesty.
We will not bend our principles to suit our policies. Our policies are based on
principles: the principle of social justice and the principle of economic justice. We
want a fair deal for everyone.
These principles and values have been at the heart of the IFP for 44 years. They are
not just my principles and values. They are championed by a great team of men and
women who are serving South Africa through the IFP. I am proud to lead this Party,
but I am just one man. I work alongside many excellent leaders who are building and
growing the IFP; for you, for your children, and for your grandchildren.
I work hand in hand with our Secretary General, Mayor Velenkosini Hlabisa, and with
our team in the Youth Brigade, and with the Women’s Brigade, and with all our
members of National Council. This leadership team is strong and committed. They
are carrying our legacy forward.
Indeed, I am pleased to announce that our structures have nominated Mayor
Velenkosini Hlabisa as our Premier candidate for KwaZulu Natal. He will make an
excellent Premier, building on the legacy of his IFP predecessors in this Province;
Premier Frank Mdlalose, Premier Ben Ngubane and Premier LPHM Mtshali.
We have tremendous confidence in all our leaders. They are ready to take your voice
into the governance of South Africa.
We have chosen these people, firstly because they are committed to the principles
and values of the IFP, and secondly because they are visionary leaders.
The problems facing our country need to be fixed and they need to be fixed now. But
the reality is that, while we are working on immediate problems, we need to be
preparing for the future, equipping ourselves now with the tools we will need
tomorrow, and navigating new paths in order to avoid the problems that certainly lie
ahead.

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 The IFP has always been a party of long-term thinking. We are looking at the
children in primary school now, and even in crèche, and planning for their future.
We’re looking at what to do now, so that in ten or twenty years’ time, they will have
easy access to skills training and a great start to the career of their choice.
We are doing this because South Africa deserves more than crisis management. We
deserve a leadership that takes us from where we are now, to where we all want to
be. We all want security, a home and an income. We all want things to be fair.
Unfortunately, that is not the direction things are moving. Analysts tell us that the
majority of South Africans believe Government is doing a bad job at managing the
economy and delivering services, especially when it comes to reducing crime,
creating jobs, narrowing income gaps, keeping prices stable, fighting corruption and
improving living standards for the poor.
These perceptions are based on hard experience. No wonder our youth are angry.
No wonder frustration and disillusionment are rife. No wonder people are starting to
call for radical action, even at the expense or to the detriment of fellow South
Africans.
Friends, when you walk into a bank and something isn’t working, you don’t want the
bank manager to come and say to you, “Just wait, one day it will work.” You want
them – and expect them – to sort out the problem, and apologise.
Why should it be any different for government? The system isn’t working. If it were
working, we wouldn’t have been saddled for nine years with a failing leadership, to
the point where corruption became endemic and our State became captured. If the
system were working, we wouldn’t have a stagnant economy, a technical recession,
and rising unemployment. The system isn’t working.
So we don’t want the same group of people to come and tell us, “Just wait, one day it
will work.” We want them to fix it, and apologise.
But we’ve been waiting for this for 25 years, and it hasn’t happened. It is time to take
things into our own hands. This election must be about changing our nation’s
leaders, to change the value system.
I want to thank the women and the men who have faithfully voted for the IFP in all
these years. You stick with the IFP because our values are your values. We believe
in the same things; not just in terms of what’s best for South Africa, but in terms of
how to achieve it. You are nation builders and sowers of good seed.

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 You have partnered with us to build the future together. Looking back, you know that
the IFP has an excellent track record. We have something real and something good
to offer South Africa. We know how to fix the problems.
So I ask you to work with us in the next 8 weeks to get the IFP’s message into as
many homes as possible. Our message is simple.
We are the voice of reason. We are the champion of the poor. We are the party of
integrity. We are the people you can trust.
Trust us to get the economy working.
Trust us to promote social cohesion.
Trust us to be tough on crime.
Trust us to fight gender-based violence.
Trust us to promote responsible land reform.
Trust us to fix the education system.
Trust us to improve the healthcare system.
Trust us to protect the environment.
The IFP has chosen these issues as the starting point to rescue our country.
Wherever you go, people are talking about these issues. Whether you’re in the local
spaza shop or at a conference centre, we are all talking about the high cost of living,
how expensive everything is, and how difficult it is to find work.
We have all been a victim of crime, whether it’s petty theft or the trauma of rape. We
all have a family member struggling to access good healthcare and affordable
medicine. We all know of a school where learners are being bullied. We all worry
about land grabs and what will happen if investors pull out because South Africa is
too dangerous, and too unstable.
We are talking about these things because they’re a common experience in our
country. But what we really need are solutions. We need a plan to fix these problems
and to turn things around.
Not every political party is offering solutions. Some are happy to just keep talking
about the problem. Some are pretending it can all be changed overnight, despite
there being no budget, no plan and no real understanding of how things work. The
worst are those who are making promises they will never, ever fulfil.
For this reason, the IFP believes in voter awareness. Because your vote is so
important to your future, we want you to be equipped with the facts, so that you can
make a good decision. We are grateful to the people who get information to the
public; the journalists, the radio presenters and TV hosts.
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 I am sure you know that our public broadcaster, the SABC, is in crisis. There needs
to be a complete overhaul of the support and funding model of the SABC, because
our public broadcaster is a national asset. It must be strengthened. The IFP is also
committed to a free press, so that you can receive all the information you need to
make an informed choice about who to support.
Still, the best way to make an informed choice is to go straight to the source. I
encourage you to read the IFP’s manifesto. Pick up a copy today. Read it. Think
about it. Talk about it with your family and friends. If you have any questions, contact
your local leader or an IFP Councillor. Visit our website. Connect with us online. Give
us a call. We want you to know exactly what the IFP believes in.
So let me give you a few highlights from our manifesto.
For the IFP, the development of an inclusive economy is an absolute priority. This is
about human dignity. We need to get our nation working, to alleviate poverty, redress
inequality, empower families, and fulfil the rightful aspirations of all our people.
One of the ways we will do that is by focussing on local economic development,
supporting small businesses and public/private partnerships. We want an
Unemployment Register in every municipality, to match job seekers to available jobs.
Through the establishment of a Department of Youth and Job Creation, strategies
can be put in place to assist both job seekers and the work force to overcome
obstacles, like lack of transport.
We need to remove all the obstacles to people finding jobs. That includes lowering
the cost of data to make access to the Internet and email affordable for everyone.
South Africa has some of the highest data costs of any country in Africa, never mind
the rest of the world. If we want to grow our economy and open opportunities, we
need to get these basics right.
The IFP’s plan for the economy is far more detailed, and you can read about it in our
manifesto. I just want to give you a taste for what the IFP is doing. If you want to
know what we’re capable of, look at our track record.
The IFP has vast experience is governance, both before liberation and since. We
have experience in governance at national, provincial and local level. Throughout the
past 44 years, we have gained an excellent track record in managing resources and
designing budgets that maximise development and growth. We know how to get a lot
done, with very little. We make sure that every cent is accounted for, and every cent
is stretched.
When we administered the KwaZulu Government, and when we administered
KwaZulu Natal, the IFP was known for integrity. Never once, in 19 years, was a
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 single allegation of corruption ever levelled against my administration in KwaZulu.
The same honest leadership characterised the IFP after 1994. None of our Premiers
and none of our MECs were ever accused of corruption.
That is the way it should be. But compared to what our country has now, that kind of
integrity is worth talking about.
The apartheid regime allowed KwaZulu only a shoestring budget. Yet still we built
more than 6000 classrooms, as well as clinics, hospitals, houses, universities,
community centres and businesses. We attracted investors and grew industrial
bases to strengthen our economy. I founded Ithala Bank, because black
entrepreneurs couldn’t access seed capital from commercial banks in South Africa.
Through Ithala Bank, businesses were started and land was productively farmed. We
did everything in partnership with the people.
This stands in sharp contrast to what we see under the ruling Party. The budget now
is massive. So much more should be being achieved. Instead, all we hear about is
how the money meant for schools, houses and development is being siphoned off
and poured down the drain of corruption. MECs and leaders are regularly accused of
corruption and abuse of their positions. VBS Bank has simply been looted.
South Africa needs to get back to integrity. We need the IFP’s values and the IFP’s
principled leadership.
The present culture of corruption has created disrespect for the rule of law. No
wonder our society is becoming more violent and more dangerous. The IFP knows
that no society can achieve its full potential while its people live in fear. Development
is only possible when individual rights and liberties are secured. Thus safety and
security, and access to justice, must be guaranteed. South Africans must feel safe
and be safe.
To achieve this, the IFP wants policing powers to be decentralised from national to
provincial and local authorities. We fought hard for the creation of provinces, and it
was our stand at the negotiating table that saw South Africa receive provinces in
1994. We wanted to ensure that governance could work from the bottom up, with
communities designing their own solutions and working in partnership with their
public representatives. That is still what we want.
But what South Africa has is a centralised Government, where all power is held
tightly at the top, by just a few. That is not the way democracy should work. You don’t
need policies being designed by people far away, and then packaged in a one-sizefits-all box and sent down the conveyor belt of government. You need, and you
deserve, to be part of the decision-making process when it comes to matters that
affect you and your family.
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 Thus the IFP believes in building partnerships with communities, in order to fight
crime. We also believe there is a need for specialised courts and specialised Police
units to deal with corruption, sexual and gender-based violence, gangs and drugrelated crimes.
In fact, when it comes to drugs, we want to deploy the Defence Force along our
borders to curb cross-border smuggling and illicit trade in drugs, as well as weapons,
wildlife trafficking and human trafficking. South Africa needs to get tough on crime,
with increased minimum sentences and hard labour for prisoners.
We must also get tough in fighting abuse of women and children. This should be
classified as a serious crime by our justice system. It is unacceptable that South
Africa is spending more on a prison inmate than they are on a woman in a shelter
who has fled from abuse. The vulnerable must be protected if we are to call
ourselves a free and caring society.
Now I know that the great debate in this election is undoubtedly expropriation of land
without compensation, how it will work, if it will work, and whether it’s the right choice
for South Africa.
The IFP understands that the resolution of the land issue carries with it the promise
of healing the wounds of the past. Land has social, spiritual and economic value. It
has the potential to be the foundation of the renewed economy our country so
critically needs.
In keeping with our approach of a long-term vision, the IFP wants to create a training
infrastructure to ensure that the land can become productive. This means introducing
agricultural science at school level, and reopening agricultural training colleges. We
believe that all unused land that is in the hands of the State should be allocated to
assist the poor. Where land expropriation is necessary, we affirm the Constitution in
its belief that there should be some level of compensation.
The need to build for the future is at the heart of the IFP’s vision. We have always
focussed on our youth. Years ago, when we were waging the liberation struggle, the
ANC’s mission-in-exile launched a call for children to abandon their classrooms and
to burn down their schools. They wanted to make this country ungovernable, through
a people’s war that saw violence and bloodshed drive a campaign of mayhem.
The IFP could not agree to this. My uncle, Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme, the founder of
the African National Congress, had laid certain principles at the foundation of our
liberation movement. Key among them was the principle of non-violence. When the
ANC abandoned this principle, the IFP stood firm. We would not allow young black
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 South Africans to become cannon fodder. Nor would we ask them to give up their
future.
So while schools were burning across our country to the chant of “Liberation Now,
Education Later”, in KwaZulu we were building. Under the IFP’s banner “Education
For Liberation”, we built schools and ensure that they opened on time, with learners
in classrooms, being equipped for the future. And when democracy was won, those
young people became the administrators, the journalists, the professors, the lawyers
and the thought leaders of our liberated society. They had been well-prepared,
because of the IFP.
The IFP believes that education is a necessary condition for sustainable, effective
development. Education is the most potent tool with which to bridge the inequalities
in our society. It is the most potent tool to place our people at the centre of our move
into the future, and to secure our rightful place in the global community.
We therefore champion free, quality Early Childhood Development, Primary,
Secondary and Higher Education, and training for all our people. So that our children
don’t get to school exhausted and hungry, the IFP insists on free scholar transport
and effective nutrition schemes in all public schools.
We have to give our children the best possible chance at achieving their potential.
That also means securing better pay and better working conditions for all teachers,
including Grade R teachers, to ensure that teachers are motivated and supported to
give their best.
We need to reopen the many teacher training colleges, and also nursing colleges,
which were established under an IFP Government, and subsequently shut down by
our opponents. Once again it’s about getting the basics right. That means providing
regular maintenance and building extra school-infrastructure, like sports facilities,
libraries and centres for the arts.
It is tragic that our schools lack the facilities and the skills to provide adequate
support for learners with disabilities and special needs. If any child is left behind, the
system has failed. Equally so if there is any violence, abuse or bullying in a
classroom. It is appalling that today, 25 years into democracy, there are still some
4000 schools with unsafe, undignified pit-toilets. We need to do far better to protect
our children and give them a head start.
Good health and well-being are integral to the overall socio-economic success of our
nation. Thus the IFP has designed a social welfare and healthcare package to meet
the needs of today and the future.
We believe that all South Africans deserve access to quality, innovative healthcare.
We can’t have people waiting for months for their results The National Health
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 Laboratory Services needs additional infrastructure to improve its turnaround times.
We also cannot have medicine that is far too expensive to be bought by those who
need it. The IFP is tackling this head on, to bring down the cost of medicine.
We want to put a social worker in every ward, in every municipality across the
country, to our assist communities. That means seeing to it that unemployed social
work graduates are absorbed into the system, and that working conditions are
improved for all healthcare workers.
We strongly support social grants, within the framework of self-help and self-reliance.
Our primary goal is to empower people, while assisting the vulnerable in times of
distress. The IFP was in fact the first to introduce a social grant in South Africa,
under the former KwaZulu Government. We also fought hard for SASSA grants to
continue uninterrupted when the present Government’s incompetence threatened to
collapse the system.
We believe in combining a functioning social grant system with a programme of
empowering families, to restore dignity and support individual development.
Accordingly, we want child-headed households to be properly supported and the Old
Age Grant to be increased.
During the recent State of the Province Address in KwaZulu Natal, Government’s
success in fighting HIV/Aids was widely applauded. What wasn’t mentioned is that
this success story is an IFP success story. It was the IFP, through the leadership of
our Premier Dr LPHM Mtshali, who rolled out anti-retrovirals to all clinics in KwaZulu
Natal, to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
That IFP-led programme was so successful that the Treatment Action Campaign
took National Government to the Constitutional Court to get them to follow suit
throughout South Africa. National Government claimed that it couldn’t be done. But
the IFP put evidence before the Court that we were doing it already, cheaply and
easily, across KwaZulu Natal. Based on our good example, the Court ordered
National Government to do what the Constitution required, and save lives.
Over the years, the dramatic reduction of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/Aids
has become one of the greatest success stories of South Africa. And it’s thanks to
the IFP.
We realise that Cancer has become the new pandemic, and we are ready to
champion this fight as well. The IFP wants to establish provincial centres for medical
innovation and research, so that patients can have all the options available to them.
We cannot continue with one standard treatment for the many different forms of
Cancer, in its many different stages. Quality of life, as well as life itself, must be
protected. We also believe that legislation and regulation is needed for Cancer
patients who are still active in the workplace.
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 Often it is women who bear the brunt of illness, for you become caregivers and
primary breadwinners, or must continue with all that is expected of you despite being
ill. Achieving true and meaningful gender equality is of the utmost importance to the
IFP. We know that women are the backbone of our nation. Thus we have worked for
years to empower women with skills, opportunities and support, so that you can take
your rightful place as leaders in our nation.
In fact, the IFP championed the emancipation of women long before it became
popular in Africa. In the seventies, I repealed the Zulu laws which made married
women minors and under the custody of their husbands. This freedom came for Zulu
women a decade ahead of the repeal of similar provisions which subjugated white
women in this country.
I also enabled women to hold title deed to their land after their husbands had passed
away, which was an extraordinary departure from our indigenous and customary law
and a first in South Africa.
I made history when I promoted the first female traditional leaders within the Zulu
nation and appointed the first woman within my Cabinet in the erstwhile KwaZulu
Government. The IFP had the largest percentage of women in our delegation at the
World Trade Centre when we negotiated the constitutional transition from apartheid
to democracy.
All these actions were taken when it was not politically required to do so. I did it
because of the important contribution women have to make. To me gender equality
is a reality, not just a slogan.
The IFP knows that women still bear the brunt of poverty, remaining on the fringes of
the economy. Women still earn less than men for doing exactly the same job.
Women face war on our streets, at home and in the workplace. Ours is one of the
most dangerous countries for women and children to live in. All of this must change.
South Africa needs to enact legislation to enforce equal pay for equal work. The
salaries of our Banyana Banyana players must be prioritised. They are symbolic of
the discrimination faced by all women. It is time to introduce a gender equality
module as part of the school curriculum, so that our society can begin to change.
I mentioned that we all want security, an income and a home. The tragic reality is
that millions of South Africans are living in sub-standard houses, in 21 st century
ghettos. There is a dire need to redress apartheid-spatial planning. The IFP believes
that a new approach is needed that puts local communities at the forefront of the
design and construction of house-building schemes.

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 As we build our communities, we must prioritise water, roads and electricity, for this
infrastructure creates a conducive environment for small businesses to flourish
where people live.
Corruption must be rooted out on the housing waiting list and contractors must be
punished for poorly built houses. In fact, we want young people and women to be
involved at community level in the construction of housing development projects. And
there needs to be greater access to low-cost subsidised housing for those who earn
between R3 500 and R15 000 per month.
Very few politicians are speaking about the environment. But a healthy, sustainable
environment is crucial to achieving socio-economic development in a transitioning
economy, both for current and future generations. South Africa needs authentic,
courageous political leadership in the environmental arena to ensure that socioeconomic transformation is built on a sustainable base.
It’s time for issues like renewable energy and the banning of single-use plastics to
reach the forefront of our national debate. Instead we are talking about State capture
and corruption, because this is where the ruling party has led South Africa. We are
in crisis because of weak leadership.
It was Thomas Jefferson who said "A government big enough to give you everything
you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." How much more power are
we willing to give to those who abuse it?
We should be seeing high profile leaders jailed for looting the State. We should be
getting that apology. Instead, it’s business as usual, while the Zondo Commission
brings us one revelation after the next of deeply entrenched corruption.
I can tell you, I weep for my country.
The ruling party has put up billboards everywhere saying “Grow South Africa”. But
under their leadership our economy continues to shrink, growth has stagnated and
jobs are being lost.
This can be changed.
I have told you today of many things the IFP has done, with your support, to govern
South Africa with integrity and excellence. We have a good track record that anyone
can see. This is why you can trust us.
We have been with you and with your parents and grandparents during the liberation
struggle. We remained on South African soil, working side by side and hand in hand
with our struggling communities. And not only did we fight for freedom, but we put
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 food on the table, we restored dignity, we created hope and we prepared for the
future. That is the kind of leadership the IFP offers.
So I ask you to give us the opportunity to lead again, with the values and principles
so desperately needed in our ailing country. Stand with us. Partner with us. And
invest your vote in a future that can be achieved; a future of social and economic
justice.
Let me speak very directly. I want to ask all those former members of the Minority
Front who defected to the Democratic Alliance to consider your real home. The IFP
has walked a long road with the Indian community. Isn’t it time you came home?
When the electorate considers who to support, we need to use our heads as well as
our hearts. Let us not be led about on the strings of emotion. There are some
manifestos out there that will never be implemented because they weren’t designed
to be implemented. They were just designed to capture your vote. They talk about
creating an Eldorado over night, but the socialist policies they offer are unworkable.
This past Thursday I returned from a visit to Nigeria. I had been invited by former
President Olusegun Obasanjo to deliver a lecture on his 82 nd birthday. During my
visit, I was interested to see that the problem of socialism persists elsewhere in
Africa. It is put forward as a workable plan. But it never works.
I often think of my late Advisor who used to say, “If you’re not a Marixst in your
twenties, you have no heart. But if you’re still a Marxist in your thirties, you have no
brain.” Russia’s economy collapsed under Marxist policies, like the dictatorship of the
proletariat.
There are fears now that Nigeria’s socialist programmes will fail, for lack of resources
and capacity. According to the Business Day of Nigeria, economists are pointing to
Ethiopia as an example to follow, for Ethiopia has embraced large scale privatisation
of state owned enterprises. If Nigeria followed suit, they say, it would lighten the debt
burden and ensure optimal use of public assets. But Nigeria is wary of privatisation
because thus far it has been marred by corruption.
Evidently South Africa is not alone in the problems we are facing. They are common
throughout Africa. We need to learn from best practice and avoid making the same
mistakes that have been made before.
We have already been by-passed by Nigeria as the biggest economy in Africa. We
need to make a firm decision on the issue of privatising state-owned enterprises. If
we take this route half-heartedly, we will get nowhere. When you set out to scramble
an egg, you don’t just half-scramble it. I remember that when my friend, Prime
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 Minister Margaret Thatcher took a decision to privatise state-owned enterprises, it
became a turning point in the economy of Britain.
Tragically, South Africa’s youth are being fed old socialist policies. By the time they
realise that they’ve been led down the garden path, they will have suffered
tremendous disappointment, disillusionment and heartache.
I want more for my country. I want something better.
Our youth are not just angry. They are also creative and passionate and endlessly
innovative. Young people have a crucial contribution to make to the salvation and
success of South Africa.
It is deeply worrying that so few young voters turn up on election day. Do you realise
that if you don’t vote, someone else is going to choose for you? Do you really want
that annoying guy in the office, or even your ex, to choose your future? Do you want
uninformed activists to decide what’s best for you? Or a bunch of old people? Or
prison inmates? Or South Africans living in London or Australia?
All these people will get to vote, and their vote will decide your future. Don’t leave it
in someone else’s hands. If you want a voice, stand up and use it. Staying away
from the polling stations does not send a protest message to Government. It simply
says, “That’s okay. You decide.”
I want to see young people flood the polling stations. We need that energy to sustain
the work that lies ahead. This is our country; young and old, wealthy and poor, rural
and urban. We have one future. There will be no security for one, while another
suffers; no peace for one, while another lives in pain.
Let us bridge every gap, whether it’s generational or circumstantial, uniting with one
another, so that all of us begin working towards the same goal.
The IFP is a family. We value every individual. So I invite you to partner with us as
we work to fix South Africa. The IFP is creating social justice and economic justice,
and we are doing it for you.
Trust us.
Vote IFP!
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