‘Apply your brains’: IFP leader urges voters to topple ANC; promises graduate grant

Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Velenkosini Hlabisa has lambasted the ANC government, urging South Africans to “apply their brains” and vote the ruling party out of power.

During his keynote address at the party’s Sizonqoba rally in Umhlathuzi, KwaZulu-Natal, Hlabisa condemned the corruption and maladministration that has plagued the country for 30 years.

“For 30 years South Africa was undermined by those entrusted to fulfil the promise of democracy,” he stated.

Hlabisa singled out individuals fingered in the Zondo Commission Inquiry into State Capture report, accusing them of selling out South Africa for personal gain.

He expressed outrage that these same individuals are now standing for re-election.

“The IFP can’t stand by and watch the destruction of South Africa. It must stand as a party for an alternative government,” he said.

ALSO READ: WATCH: MK party claims sabotage amid another  Zuma no show at rally 

IFP election promise: R3k for unemployed graduate grant

Furthermore, the IFP leader expressed his discontent with the employment of foreign nationals in entry-level jobs.

He said the country is in crisis and its citizens should be shielded from “hunger and deprivation and despair before helping other African nationals”.

Hlabisa shared the party’s policy of introducing the “unemployed graduate grant”, a move aimed at alleviating poverty and stimulating economic growth.

He promised that an IFP government would provide R3,000 unemployed graduates for a fixed period in order to “enable those already equipped with skill to enter the labour market”.

Need for WiFi and internet services

Furthermore, Hlabisa said during his campaign trails he engaged with the youth who shared with him their need for basic WiFi and internet services.

He highlighted the struggles of young people in rural South Africa, who lack connectivity and are thereby deprived of learning and working opportunities.

ALSO READ: WATCH: DA leader John Steenhuisen tells voters ‘help is on the way’

Load shedding will be back after elections – IFP

Like many other politicians, and citizens alike Hlabisa predicted an “immediate” return of load shedding after the elections.

He called the halt of load shedding a “sudden and predictable” move.

“After 17 years of rolling blackouts, the lights stayed on for two months and every time we turn on the radio another official is claiming that this has nothing to do with elections,” the IFP leader said.

He promised that an IFP government would put an end to it by opening markets to clean energy products.

“Let us become the gamechangers on the continent to do so,” he urged.

WATCH: IFP Sizonqoba rally in Umhlathuze, KZN

ALSO READ: WATCH: ‘If Nelson Mandela was around, he would be voting for Bosa’ – Maimane