Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Velenkosini Hlabisa has announced a raft of policy proposals that will grow the country’s economy, cushion the poor, end load shedding and crack down on crime by beefing up the police and the prosecuting authority.
Hlabisa said the economy has not been growing because of corruption in government and failure to arrest those behind the looting of state resources.
The IFP wants to stabilise the energy security supply by allowing alternative sources of energy and open the marker for competition. This will take the pressure off Eskom, which has been implementing load shedding almost everyday since last year.
Hlabisa was on Sunday launching the IFP manifesto in KwaZulu-Natal where he presented a 13-point plan to rescue South Africa.
On top of the list was fighting crime and corruption, beefing up security on the borders and build border walls, forcing businesses to employ 80% South Africans to reduce unemployment, revive State-Owned Entities (SOEs), open the electricity market to reduce load shedding and overhaul restrictive labour laws.
Hlabisa took a swipe at National Council of Provinces deputy chairperson Sylvia Lucas who said during the debate on the State of the Nation Address (Sona) that load shedding was not the end of the world.
“When the IFP is given an opportunity load shedding will be a thing of the past. We will not behave like a member of the ruling party in the Sona who said load shedding is not the end of the world,” said Hlabisa.
He said load shedding was everything to businesses, households, schools and various sectors of economy.
Hlabisa said the IFP will also prioritise infrastructure after roads have been damaged by trucks that are transporting goods to the port of Richards Bay.
The IFP president said railway lines have been stripped by criminal elements. This has caused damage to the network and Transnet’s volumes decreased from 226 million tonnes in 2019 to 149m tonnes in 2022.
“The collapse of our railway network and transport system are crippling South Africa’s economy and costing lives and livelihoods.”
But crime was rampant and the police have lost control of the streets with criminals terrorising communities.
The state must take measures to fight crime and win back the streets.
“Crime is devastating our communities. Our women and children cannot go freely and safe in our streets. Load shedding has destroyed our economy to a point of collapse. The cost of living keeps going up, increasing fuel prices push up the cost of food and transport.
“After 30 years of gaining our hard-won freedom South Africa stands on the brink of collapse, not because of any lack of our people but because South Africa has been subjected to poor governance, weak leadership and corruption.
“In 2024 across the length and breadth of South Africa there is one resounding call. The call for change. In every village, in every city, in schools, shebeens, hostels and boardrooms, on the factory floor and in queues to access services the call for change is heard loud and clearly,” said Hlabisa.
The calls for change was also coming from victims of crime, children with no transport to school and businesses affected by load shedding.
“In 2024 South Africa stands on the precipice. Behind us is the litany of empty promises and government’s failures that have brought us to this point of a brink towards failure. Below us is the chasm of economic collapse. As I stand here, I have courage because we can see a better way, we can envisage the South Africa that was within our grasp in 1994 when we crossed the threshold into democracy. Today we must make the way we envisaged in 1994.”
He said the manifesto of the IFP was about hope and setting a new economic trajectory for South Africa.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Politics
