GREETINGS BY
LPHM MTSHALI, MPP
NATIONAL CHAIRMAN, INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY
JOHANNESBURG : APRIL 13, 2002
It gives me great pleasure to bring to the
Federal Congress of the Democratic Alliance the greetings and well wishes of
the Inkatha Freedom Party and those of its President, Prince Mangosuthu
Buthelezi. We feel that this is a particularly important moment in the history
of South Africa and that within its context, both the IFP and the DA are called
upon to play a very important role in their respective capacities. The DA and
the IFP have always shared a deep affinity and a common policy outlook which
underpins deeply felt values and principles which without any doubt, we share.
We are different parties cast by history into different roles and with
different missions to fulfil in the unfolding of South African history.
However, we feel that we have a common destiny and that on the fulfilment of
that destiny, the final success of our quest for democracy and the
consolidation of an open society, ultimately hinges.
There is politics which is productive of more
politics, and there is politics which is productive of democracy, enhanced
governance and progress for our people. Both our parties are committed to the
latter type of politics. We both believe in the values of freedom and the
eternal quest of mankind to evolve into ever higher stages of civilisation and
progress. We act with pragmatism and realism, but we are moved by idealism and
patriotism. I feel that this is what the chemistry which unites us consists of.
If we intensify our dialogue, we must also be
aware of the many and severe problems which may emerge which are not peculiar
to our interaction only, but are indeed proper in the South African context.
The culture of our organisations is very different and there is a need for
mutual understanding. If I may be blunt, I must express the feeling that we
have a greater understanding of the culture of your Party and of the bulk of
the constituency which it represents, than the DA may have of our Party and of
the bulk of the constituency which we represent. It is going to be an arduous
challenge but it is one on which the final success of South Africa ultimately
hinges. You must accept to endure the difficulties of this arduous journey
which will have obstacles at times where you least expect it.
During the destiny determining time of the
process of constitutional negotiations between 1991 and 1996, both our
political parties espoused the values of federalism and advocated a form of
state in which provinces can develop policy and become a constant check and
balance for the central government. That battle was not won, and in the end, we
achieved a very diluted form of provincial autonomy which emasculated any real
notion of federalism and did not prevent the concentration of all significant
powers of policy formulation within the central government. However, all that
was achieved was the product of the commitment made by the IFP and the DA to
advocate the cause of federalism. The IFP took that battle further and
continued to negotiate and extract more concessions from the ANC and the NP
when everybody else had given up hope. At that time, the ANC and the NP were
working together closely, effectively as one block in what was then an unholy
alliance motivated exclusively by opportunism and expediency.
We felt that the battle for federalism was
concluded with the adoption of the final Constitution and yet the truth of the
matter is that the battle for federalism has yet to begin. Now more that ever
it is clear that South Africa will undoubtedly fall prey to autocratic
degenerations, intellectual stagnation and all the abuses which may ensue from
unfettered power unless we unleash the democratic potential of federalism and
policy formulation at the provincial level of government.
We have a clear example of what has happened and
of much greater tragedies which are bound to happen, unless together we
recommit ourselves to the battles which united us in the past and must continue
to unite us in the future. It was because of the defiance of the DA-controlled
Western Cape Province and the IFP governed KwaZulu Natal Province, that we
could begin rectifying our national policies in respect of our war against
HIV/AIDS.
We turned around wrong policies and, in so
doing, we began saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of children otherwise
destined to a horrible death before they could reach puberty. If policy
formulation can go astray in respect of what is effectively the most important
emergency of our country and our government’s top priority, one fears that
even fewer checks and balances are available in our system to correct mistakes
afflicting some of our national policies. The IFP believes that in certain
respects the real list of our true national crises unfortunately mirrors the
list of shortcomings which the IFP has often identified in government policies.
It is difficult to prioritise the many crises of
our country, for many are different facets of the same situation. We have a
major crisis in the entire system of justice and in the maintenance of law and
order. For three years our government has been engaged in internal discussion
about the regeneration of the moral fibre of our communities, and yet it has
still not been capable of issuing a profound warning, backed by the necessary
moral leadership, that criminality is wrong, rebellion is wrong and lack of
respect for societal values is wrong. We appreciate that for the children of
the armed struggle, the process of rebellion and the champion of insurrections,
it might be difficult to turn the score around and now play a new tune. For
this reason, we need to rely on those components of the liberation struggle who
always understood that the true struggle would begin after liberation and who
never propagated violence or rebellion or a culture of lack of respect and
insurrection.
As I talk about the liberation movement and its
components, I want to make it clear that the IFP recognises the Democratic
Party and its precursors as an essential component of the struggle waged by
South Africans to liberate our country from the oppressive regime of apartheid.
We recognise and honour liberation heroes such as Helen Suzman, Colin Eglin,
Frederick van Zyl Slabbert, Zac de Beer and many others. We believe that your
leader, whom we respect highly, is a genuine heir to this noble tradition. He
is a true patriot who clearly understood that the struggle for democracy,
freedom and progress is far from being completed and may require now as much
sacrifice, commitment and moral fortitude, than it ever did before.
We must bring into the country, at all levels, a
new spirit of patriotism, based on goodwill and dedication, as well as the
critical faculty of distinguishing right from wrong, questioning policies, and
contributing to a more open and critical dialogue in the country. We need to
ask ourselves why, almost ten years after liberation, we are plunged into a
disastrous state of unemployment and sluggish economic growth, which the recent
international competitiveness report places us amongst the worst in the world
in respect of unemployment and at a mere 1.1% in respect of economic growth. If
the country has the courage to promote critical debate, it will recognise the
wisdom of the positions jointly advocated by the DA and the IFP in respect of
greater flexibility in the labour market and mobility in it in order to ensure
productivity, the need for extensive and expedited privatisation and the
liberalisation of our economy, so that we can merge within the prevailing
trends of globalisation.
We are running out of time to provide the
country with the required credible, strong, inspired and visionary leadership
that it so desperately needs to redress issues such as HIV/AIDS, crime,
unemployment, economic recession and insufficient development. These are the
issues which affect all our people irrespective of existing social, cultural
and ethnic differentiations. We need to bring together a genuine revolution of
goodwill which can give direction to our country and ride the wave of the
demands of our people. A wave of moral indignation is rising against government
policies on HIV/AIDS. There is equal concern about the issues of crime,
unemployment, economic recession and insufficient development.
The DA and the IFP share the responsibility of
mobilising the people of goodwill so that they can make their voices heard. My
leader, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, greatly values the dialogue he has
maintained with your leader, Mr Tony Leon, on these important themes. We are
different political parties and we are bound to remain as such. My leader,
Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, has always believed in broad-ranging co-operations
and the coming together of political forces which are equally committed to
South Africa. I firmly believe that through the co-operation of the IFP and the
DA, and through the dialogue between Mr Tony Leon and Prince Mangosuthu
Buthelezi, our political parties can make a significant contribution to
enhancing the quality of government in South Africa and providing it with an
alternative centre of much required credible, patriotic, principled and
inspired moral leadership.
For this reason, the IFP will follow with great
interest your deliberations, and expresses all its best wishes for them.
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