IFP President Velenkosini Hlabisa closed the party’s policy conference on Wednesday.
- IFP President Velenkosini Hlabisa closed off the party’s two-day conference.
- He said the IFP was now ready to govern the country.
- Hlabisa said the party is growing in leaps and bounds, with 850 branches awaiting inauguration.
IFP President Velenkosini Hlabisa says that, much like the outcomes-based education (OBE) policy, the mooted National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill will leave a devastating legacy.
Hlabisa was closing the party’s national two-day policy conference at the Imbizo Centre in Empangeni, near Richard’s Bay.
He lamented crime and unemployment, among other government failures. He said the party supports universal healthcare. However, he said, as it is, “the NHI Bill is a recipe for disaster”.
Hlabisa said:
On the matter of healthcare, let us be clear: The IFP supports universal health access. But the NHI Bill is a recipe for disaster for our health sector in South Africa. Like the OBE in education which handicapped our education system and had to be abandoned, the NHI Bill will do the same to our health sector.
He added: “It has a poor funding model, provides no clear role for private healthcare service providers, and there is no open or transparent consultation with medical practitioners and other stakeholders in the health space. That must be placed on record.”
He said the party emerges from its two-day policy conference with “implementable, practical solutions” that would “resuscitate and revive” the country.
Hlabisa told party delegates that sustained hard work had led to “tremendous growth” in membership.
“Even as we speak, new branches are being formed, while some 850 new branches await inauguration,” he said, attributing this to the party’s decision to focus on mobilising support and preparing branches, as IFP founder, the late Mangosuthu Buthelezi, had instructed the leaders.
Hlabisa said:
The IFP has a clear idea of what government will look like in 2024 if we receive the mandate to govern.
He said it was now up to IFP members to carry the message of what the party stands for into the homes of South Africans.
Hlabisa said the policy conference was a perfect way to close a “painful” year after the death of Buthelezi.
The IFP president was bullish about the party’s elective prospects.
“Having made the right strategic decisions, and having put in the work, the IFP has secured the level of growth that honours the 50 years that the IFP had served South Africa,” he said.
Hlabisa said the IFP, which he punted as ready to take over, had placed itself strategically to bring about change in SA.
After the Christmas period, the IFP national council will meet to ratify the policy proposals, he said.
Hlabisa told delegates:
The IFP knows how to campaign. We know how to mobilise support.
Hlabisa said the IFP genuinely works for SA and doesn’t merely come up with ideas meant to excite South Africans.
He said the IFP follows through its plans and wasn’t “a party that invests in plans” only to abandon those plans.
The IFP president added:
We are the party South Africa can trust.
In an apparent swipe at the ANC, Hlabisa said people shouldn’t be fooled by empty promises or being brought food parcels.
“We want voters to know exactly what is possible and exactly what the IFP is going to do,” Hlabisa said.
“Our country is tired of hearing about the future. The change we want is change right now. It is time for the IFP. The time of change has come.”
Hlabisa also used his address to pay tribute to singer Bulelwa “Zahara” Mkutukana who died this week.
Recent Comments