Johannesburg- The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in its manifesto launched in Durban on Thursday evening announced that should it be voted into political office it would prioritise food security and agricultural investment to create new jobs.
The party which is the official opposition in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature said endemic poverty and joblessness was a time ticking bomb and that the 2021 municipal elections should be about service delivery and getting the basics right.
“Where the IFP governs we support subsistence farmers by providing materials and equipment to promote local economic development. We develop cooperatives and assist emerging farmers, in particular projects led by women and youth,” said IFP President Velenkosini Hlabisa addressing supporters.
He added: “The green economy in its multiple facets is an apex priority for the IFP in ensuring food and job security. Moreover, the IFP intends to reposition agriculture in South Africa to compete favorably regionally and internationally. The IFP commits to keep ploughing into agriculture and land development where we govern.”
Buoyed by the party’s performance in the 2019 national elections, Hlabisa said regaining lost ground in key municipalities in KZN was also high on the agenda. He announced infrastructural investment, provision of uninterrupted electricity, roads, and fibre as key elements to get the country back on its feet.
The IFP is the fourth largest party in the national assembly after the EFF. The party has also recorded an unexpected resurgence scoring massive victories in recent by-elections in KZN. During the 2011 municipal elections, the party which once dominated the province was reduced to governing only two out of 43 municipalities in KZN. It now controls 7 municipalities.
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