South Africa needs a new captain, says IFP’s Hlabisa
INKATHA Freedom Party (IFP) president Velenkosini Hlabisa said in his New Year message yesterday that South Africa needed a new captain.
“The South African ship needs a new captain, and that captain is the IFP, because those who have landed us in the current problems cannot in good faith be the ones to get us out.”
Hlabisa also said that it was a fallacy that there was anything “new” about the country.
“As we mark the start of a new year, we must be mindful that we are not a new South Africa; we still face escalating unemployment, debilitating corruption and a pandemic of inequality and socio-economic injustices.”
In the face of the newness of the year and decade ahead, he said, South Africa needed new leadership and new solutions – and “the IFP” had both.
“Fellow South Africans, we end 2019 faced with serious challenges as a country, with SAA placed under business rescue, Eskom gripped by problems which plunged us into load shedding, and an economy that continues to shrink. The sad reality of gender-based violence has fast entrenched inception 45 years ago, to pursue the liberation of the oppressed, dispossessed and vulnerable in our country. In 2020 we recommit ourselves as the IFP to ensure that political freedom translates into social and economic justice to take forward the collective dreams, hopes and aspirations of those we serve: the South African people.”
Hlabisa also congratulated matriculants who had passed their exams and urged those who had failed to take advantage of rewriting opportunities.
“To my colleagues in the teaching fraternity, thank you for all your hard work in shaping and moulding the minds and dreams of our children during their schooling journey. As a former teacher and principal, I know the challenges that come with our profession, and our country owes you a great debt of gratitude for your endless sacrifices.”