IFP President Velenkosi Hlabisa. Picture: Khaya Ngwenya / Independent Newspapers
Durban — There is a strong need for political education to end voter apathy, especially among youth in South Africa, says the IFP.
The party’s president Velenkosini Hlabisa covered a wide range of issues bedevilling the country and gave his party’s solutions during an exclusive interview with the Daily News.
Hlabisa said education and political education were important for democracy to thrive. An educated population would understand the importance of being political, including the value of voting.
“There is a great need for political education, especially amongst the youth in the country. People often tell us why they must vote because there are no jobs but they forget that they have power to change that by removing the party that has failed them and replacing it with a new party they believe will help their situation.”
Hlabisa said that if people were not taking part in finding political solutions to issues affecting them, such as crime and unemployment, they would have nobody to blame because by not participating, they would be letting politicians decide for them.
He said the party would give more detailed information on the party’s plan to rescue the country after its policy conference next week, adding that the conference would shape the party’s manifesto which would be launched in March next year.
Hlabisa was born in Hlabisa village on the north east coast of KwaZulu-Natal. He joined the IFP in 1978, just three years after it was founded in 1975. He was a school principal for 19 years.
He obtained experience in governance from 1995 to 2019, when he was a councillor. Thereafter, he was elected to the provincial legislature as a leader of the official opposition.
He has since moved to take the parliamentary seat left vacant by the Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi who died.
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