2012 ELECTIVE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY 14 - 16 DECEMBER 2012 RESOLUTIONS

The National Conference of the Inkatha Freedom Party met on this 14th to 16th of December 2012 and unanimously adopted the following resolutions :

 1. THE IFP'S ROLE AS A VOICE OF REASON IN THE CONTINUED STRUGGLE FOR SOUTH AFRICA'S ECONOMIC EMANCIPATION

Conference:

1.1 Expressing great concern with respect to the deteriorating state of our economy and the ANC's leadership;

1.2 Noting that the economic compact proposed by the ANC is not sustainable as it requires maintaining 18 million people on social welfare programmes while utilizing the State to perpetually subsidise the super-rich, the captains of unviable industries and phony entrepreneurs, at the expense of a rapidly diminishing and over-burdened middle class;

1.3 Lamenting that the ANC-led Government had no vision for the economic leadership of the country to the point of sub-contracting the formulation of such vision to the National Planning Commission only to end up praising in words and ignoring in facts the report of that Commission;

1.4. Fearing the vicious downward spiral of unsustainable social grants, growing unemployment, shrinking of the industrial basis for lack of genuine competitiveness, growing social unrest and protest, and the consequent reduction in fixed domestic and foreign investment and credit downgrading, all of which are leading to the country becoming poorer;

1.5 Noting that South Africa has already missed some of the great opportunities granted it by history, such as remaining the gateway to Africa in the largest continental economy;

1.6. Noting that in spite of the ANC:led Government having ostensibly made education our national priority, our education system is disintegrating at the rate of an ice sculpture in the Sahara Desert, thereby destroying the most important engine of our future prosperity;

1.7 Complaining that the ANC-led Government is not only neglecting but even undermining the two fields in which the greatest measure of employment can be generated, namely agriculture and tourism, including by maintaining the monopolistic position of South African Airways which has made South Africa an unviable destination, and by failing to bring about the green agricultural revolution advocated by the IFP and centered around high added value, labour intensive crops and the utilization of produce as an alternative energy source;

1.8 Condemning the Minister of Agriculture who is responsible for policies which led to a 50% drop of employment in our fields, and the Minister of Trade and Industry who is responsible for placing our economy on addictive steroids in the form of subsidies and the reduction of international competition, which has shrunk our industrial basis and forcibly transferred huge resources from our impoverished families into the hands of the rich and super-rich;

1.9 Rejecting the programme of nationalization of mines, but supporting a strengthened mining sector which counters the decline in employment in order to ensure a stable economy, at the same time encouraging increased beneficiation of our mineral resources;

1.10 Recognising that the current labour regime favours employees at the expense of both employers and investors, which is inimical to long-term employment creation;

1.11 Recognising the need to emphasise skills development and an education system that is geared towards supplying skills to the economy to ensure a productive labour force;

1.12 Rejecting the State running businesses which the private sector is perfectly capable of running on their own, South African Airways being a prime example of this;

1.13 Reiterating the need to ensure that the land restitution programme works and is properly implemented, including the process of employing experienced people, and increasing support and mentoring programmes, while rejecting the continued state sponsorship of unproductive farms; and

1.14 Believing that cooperatives constitute a particularly valuable intervention in rural areas;

NOW THEREFORE

Conference:

(a) Condemns the poor leadership of the Ministers of Trade and Industry, Education, Energy and Mines, and calls on them to account;

(b) Calls for the appointment of a curatorship of competent technocrats in the position of Ministers of all economic portfolios with the task of implementing the recommendations of the National Planning Commission to bring economic common sense into the governance of our industry, agriculture, mines and education; and

(c) Calls on the Minister of Agriculture to emphasise the development of cooperatives as economically productive enterprises.

 2. MANGAUNG: POLITICAL STORM CLOUDS ARE GATHERING OVER SOUTH AFRICA

Conference:

2.1 Noting that Mangaung appears to be a political conference more aimed at sharing the spoils of looting through leadership struggles rather than addressing the fundamental issues of the country and the real needs and wants of our people;

2.2 Lamenting the fact that the ANC moving forward in the empty space of a lack of genuine leadership will remain focused on personal ambitions and enrichment;

2.3. Decries that instead of leading the moral regeneration of the country the ANC presidency is rather leading the moral degeneration of our social fibre;

2.4 Fearing the mounting wave of anger and disappointment of the people of South Africa, especially from the ever-growing segment of unemployed youth, who is trapped in the cycle of hopelessness which the ANC could have easily broken had it accepted to maintain course on its original proposal for a Youth Wage Subsidy, which COSATU vetoed;

2.5 Fearing that the decline in the ANC's political leadership and the pervasive corruption within the ruling party is not reversible, requiring of us to move our struggle for liberation beyond that which the ANC can offer;

2.6 Fearing that the ANC will miss the opportunity to muster the political will to address the long list of our country's problems, which is well known to it and yet thus far ignored by it;

2.7 Recognising that the ANC has failed to attract foreign investment, failed to redress poverty, and failed in terms of service delivery, which takes a back seat to internal party politics; and

2.8 Knowing that the IFP has the political will to harness opportunities for development and is well-equipped and capable of filling the leadership vacuum in our country;

NOW THEREFORE

Conference:

(a) Calls on all ANC supporters to join hands with Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi to keep alive the tradition of Dr Pixely ka Isaka Seme, the founder of the South African National Native Congress, Dr John Langalibalele Dube, Inkosi Albert Luthuli and Mr Nelson Mandela, and to keep alive the legacy of our struggle for liberation;

(b) Vows to continue our struggle for liberation by striving to bring stability and prosperity to South Africa;

(c) Calls on ANC voters not to express their disappointment with the ANC by staying away from the polls, but rather by voting for and supporting the IFP so that together we can make a difference and fulfill the ANC's many broken promises; and

(d) Urges our members, particularly our youth, to get the message out that the ANC is destroying our country and our future.

 3. THE REAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ANC AND THE IFP

Conference:

3.1 Recollecting that since 1990 when Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi sought to meet President Mandela after his release from prison, the IFP has constantly sought a path towards reconciliation with the ANC;

3.2 Noting that for the past twenty years the IFP has left no stone unturned in seeking reconciliation with the ANC including, without limitation, several bi-lateral committees which unfortunately produced no progress;

3.3 Lamenting that in spite of all the IFP's efforts the ANC has never relinquished its unwavering agenda of destroying the IFP and its legacy, considering the IFP not a mere opponent but rather its arch-enemy and political nemesis;

3.4 Recognising that the ANC has lost its way, political soul and vision and no longer has the interests of the people at heart, as attested even by the people of Nkandla;

3.5 Never forgetting that the IFP has always championed the founding values of the liberation struggle as propagated by the 1912 founding fathers, which have been abandoned by the ANC and debased by their venal leadership and behavior;

3.6 Despising the most recent tactic of the ANC to split the IFP, through bankrolling the formation of the NFP and fomenting divisions in the IFP; and

3.7 Praising Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi for continuing to hold in his hand the moral compass of South African politics;

NOW THEREFORE

Conference:

(a) Resolves to give a mandate to the IFP leadership and its President to no longer rely on false promises and hopes emanating from the ANC and to pursue the interests of South Africa and the creation of an alternative government for this nation notwithstanding anything the ANC may offer or promise;

(b) Calls on all IFP leaders to reject the lure of any position with which the ANC may seek to bribe them, including ambassadorial positions;

(c) Calls on the IFP, its leaders and all its structures to embrace and recognize the value of the politics of non-violent radical militancy for democracy, so that each IFP member may become and act as a radical defender of the values the Party has espoused and the ANC has abandoned;

(d) Calls on the whole of South Africa to recognize the importance of principled democratic radical action which will enable our Party to maintain its effectiveness in politics and its role in the shaping of future history in spite of its present or future size; and

(e) Calls on the rank and file of the IFP to unite under the leadership of the IFP President and to eschew all that which promotes division and disharmony.

 4. CORRUPTION, SELF-ENRICHMENT AND SELF-INTEREST: WHY THE IFP MUST BE A FORCE FOR CHANGE

Conference:

4.1 Reiterating that corruption is one of our country's worst and most pressing tragedies as it impoverishes the poor, impairs delivery, distorts moral values and undermines all sectors of government and civil society alike;

4.2 Noting that corruption is a self-inflicted injury which can be rectified if there is sufficient political will to do so;

4.3 Fearing that, as shown by South Africa having slipped down in the international Corruption Perceptions Index, corruption has now become so endemic that it cannot be eradicated except through a complete change of leadership which relegates out of power those who have betrayed our democratic revolution to pursue their personal enrichment;

4.4 Noting that our leader Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi has provided unique and unparalleled leadership in the fight against corruption, including by launching together with all other opposition leaders in Parliament the Coalition Against Corruption in Durban on the 28th of September 2012; and

4.5 Recognising that the fight against corruption calls upon every IFP member to be vigilant against any possibility of corruption even within our midst and to have the courage to blow the whistle against corruption in the interests of the Republic, even when that means exposing malfeasance of friends and family; and

4.6 Lamenting the complete abandonment of adherence to best practice supply chain management principles, and the emergence of tenderpreneurs and increasing cadre deployment;

NOW THEREFORE

Conference:

(a) Calls on each IFP member or supporter to become an anti-corruption agent and investigator, to detect and expose each and every instance of corruption within his or her work place, municipality, community or environment, with special attention to the mounting corruption promoted by the ANC and the NFP; and

(b) Mandates its leadership to promote and strengthen the Coalition Against Corruption among all people of sound morality and goodwill in South Africa and across existing political, social and economic divides, also encouraging the creation of a watchdog entity within the joint opposition.

 5. IFP PRIORITIES: FAMILY, POLITICAL RELEVANCE AND SELFLESS SERVICE TO OUR NATION

Conference:

5.1 Reiterating that the IFP exists as a party that serves the interests of the people of South Africa in the spirit of Ubuntu botho in order to maintain the dignity of our people;

5.2 Recognsing that our Party has always been and is about family and in that spirit we promote the sound family values of solidarity, respect, freedom and unity in diversity;

5.3 Believing in honesty, integrity and transparency as a personal ethos, to reflect the values of the IFP as we strive to increase our support base;

5.4 Reiterating the IFP's call for self-help and self-reliance as a means of economic emancipation;

5.5 Proclaiming that the family is the cornerstone of our society and the basis upon which the citizenry is educated and the whole of South Africa may prosper;

5.6 Recognising that each child has the inalienable right to be born into a family which is stable, nourishing, loving and capable of providing to that child the required educational, financial and moral support;

5.7 Decrying any Government policy or intervention which has the ultimate, albeit unintended, effect of promoting irresponsible parenthood;

5.8 Recognising that our country still suffers under the unresolved legacy of all that which, under Apartheid, disrupted and demeaned families, ranging from migrant labour practices to failure to recognize and protect the role of mothers and the privileges and responsibilities of parenthood;

5.9 Applauding the steadfast leadership given by our Women's Brigade through the decades in giving an example of how, through dedication and sacrifices, each generation can forge a more prosperous, more developed and freer generation; and

5.10 Standing for healthy families, long life expectancy, the fight against moral decay and substance abuse, the promotion of family values and faith-based values as keys in building the moral well-being of families and the creation of a non-racial, non-sexist society in which human rights are respected and protected;

NOW THEREFORE

Conference:

(a) Calls on all IFP members to abide by the highest code of responsibility as husbands, wives and parents;

(b) Calls on teachers to recognize that theirs is much more than a job, as it is indeed the mission of shaping a new nation into prosperity, freedom and liberty, and that therefore they must conduct themselves with the fullest measure of commitment and dedication; and

(c) Calls on each family to recognize the power of education to provide their children with a better future that emancipates them from the yoke of poverty and underdevelopment and, to such end, assist schools and teachers in performing their roles.

 6. OPPOSITION PARTY CO-OPERATION: THE ROLE OF THE IFP

Conference:

6.1 Noting that in the past few years of political engagement the IFP has irrefutably proven that it can punch above its weight and that its reduced size has not impaired its effectiveness;

6.2 Noting that through the enlightened and visionary leadership of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi the IFP has been the catalyst of intense co-operation amongst opposition parties, most recently the joint opposition rallies in Khayelitsha, Port Elizabeth and Durban as well as a united motion of no confidence in the President of South Africa, which was moved by the Leader of the Opposition on behalf of all opposition parties in Parliament;

6.3 Noting that South Africa is not well served if the opposition remains fragmented, self-serving and self-concerned without offering the growing wave of disgruntled and disappointed voters a viable alternative;

6.4 Noting that time is running out to provide South Africa with an alternative government which can pull it back from the economic and social abyss into which it seems to be inexorably sinking; and

6.5 Stressing that timing is of the essence to save the country and that the present rendevouz with history may not happen again under conditions in which the ANC is at its weakest and the country is still healthy and strong enough to move away from all that which is so bad for it, to choose a better future;

NOW THEREFORE

Conference:

Gives a full and unqualified mandate to its President, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, to continue his relentless efforts to unify the opposition in order to provide South Africa with the much needed hope of a better alternative; a new government-in-the-making.

 7. THE IFP'S BY-ELECTION VICTORIES: NKANDLA AND BEYOND : GROWING THE IFP'S FOOTPRINT TOWARDS 2014

Conference:

7.1 Recognising that the IFP's by-election victories in KwaMashu, Hlabisa and especially Nkandla are a signal of the IFP's growing strength and a sign of successes to come;

7.2 Noting that these victories build on a string of by-election successes since the Local Government Elections, which prove that our party has turned a corner and is on its way to full recovery;

7.3 Praising the role of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi in securing these victories through his relentless campaigning and constituency support;

7.4 Calling on all those were hoodwinked, tricked and confused into abandoning their genuine political home to follow false prophets and standard bearers, to accept that it is now time for them to return to their rightful political home by voting for and supporting the IFP; and

7.5 Recognising that the ANC continues to use electoral fraud and all manner of shenanigans, including the employment of SADTU members as electoral officers;

 NOW THEREFORE

Conference:

(a) Calls on all its structures to mobilize to secure a resounding electoral success in the 2014 provincial and national elections;

(b) Calls on all those who left or failed to support the IFP to return to their political home at once to join hands in the preparation of the next great IFP electoral victory;

(c) Calls on all senior leaders to be visible and provide constituency support during by-election campaigns; and

(d) Calls for shadow councilors to be appointed in municipal councils to monitor their counterparts in governance, in recognition of the fact that the IFP does not control all wards.

 8. MADIBA

Conference:

8.1 Recognising former President Nelson Mandela, known to all as Madiba, as an international icon, who is loved and respected by all;

8.2 Noting his immense contribution to the emancipation of our people;

8.3 Acknowledging the great sacrifices he has made in the service of the nation; and

8.4 Appreciating his integrity and statesmanship, and his openness to reconciliation between the ANC and IFP which remains an unfinished agenda;

NOW THEREFORE

Conference:

(a) Resolves to wish Madiba a speedy recovery; and

(b) Resolves to send Madiba our love and respect.

 9. THE IFP'S SUPPORT FOR HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT, PRINCE MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI MP, AND THE NEW LEADERSHIP OF THE IFP

Conference :

9.1 Praising the fact that once again history has been made in Ulundi on the occasion of an extraordinary conference;

9.2 Acclaiming the re-election of His Excellency Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi to the presidency of the Party he founded 37 years ago on the strength of his clairvoyance of future political events and devotion to the genuine needs of the South African people and the country he loves;

9.3 Recognising how our leader has since birth carried the extraordinary burden of an extraordinary mission bestowed upon him by superior will;

9.4 Recognising that now more than ever South Africa needs the inspired, principled and visionary leadership of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi as our country's most senior statesman and keeper of our nation's moral and political compass; and

9.5 Recognising that our Party needs and relies on the leadership of Prince Buthelezi and his newly elected executive in order to bring about its reconstruction, renewal, regeneration and rejuvenation.

NOW THEREFORE

Conference:

(a) Calls on the whole of South Africa to recognize that Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi is a beacon of hope, honest and devoted leadership in the dark morass of the ANC's corruption, self-interest, contradictory policies and fundamental inability to enable South Africa to realize its full potential;

(b) Expresses its sincere appreciation and gratitude to Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi for having made the sacrifice of continuing to serve our Party and the people of South Africa by prioritizing public service above his personal and family needs and concerns; and

(c) Pledges its continued support to the leadership, principles and politics of its President.

Date: Sunday, 16 December 2012.

Issued by the IFP, December 16 2012

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