IFP lines up first policy conference in 15 years

The IFP says decisions that will emerge from its policy conference in December will provide hope and confidence for South Africans. 

The party is due to hold its first national policy conference in 15 years. It has been a year in the making, with inputs from various stakeholders under the Kungawe initiative, a consultative campaign.

The conference has been scheduled to take place from December 12-13. 

The party’s national campaign committee has been reviewing policies biannually since the previous policy conference in 2008. 

“We are hopeful that through this conference we will be able to give South Africans hope and confidence in the future where a comprehensive policy alternative is available. The electorate has a distinct choice to make because what is fundamentally clear is that the ANC is not fit for purpose, not fit to govern,” IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said.

The policy document will become an anchor for the IFP’s manifesto that the party expects to launch in March. 

“We are saying, present to South Africans something to hold on to, which is a manifesto anchored in the policies. We are confident we will achieve that because of the thorough consultative process we undertook,” Hlengwa said. 

“What we want to achieve is ensuring that the alternative we want to present to the electorate will manifest — because we either continue in the current trajectory of ANC failures or we steer the country towards a new direction of social and economic justice, economic growth and development, jobs.”

Policy discussions will be clustered into seven categories, including economic, social and justice.