It is blatantly obvious that government has stopped listening‚ which much is clear when one sees ANC supporters burning tyres‚ shutting down the CBD‚ and looting shops in protest against their own party‚ says Inkatha Frfeedom party (IFP) leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

There was so much anger over candidate lists in the ANC‚ that lives hade been lost and candidates had been rejected before the election was even held‚ Buthelezi said at the Gauteng launch of the IFP’s manifesto for the coming local government elections.

Why must people resort to such extreme measures to get their leaders to listen? he questioned.

“Because their leaders have become isolated from the reality of day to day life. They have separated themselves from the people they serve‚ and are now simply protecting their own interests.”

This was not the kind of leadership South Africa deserved‚ Buthelezi added.

“It is not the leadership we fought to secure as we struggled for liberation. Somewhere‚ somehow‚ corruption got a foothold in the ANC. And now‚ years later‚ it pervades every level of the party‚” the IFP leader asserted.

Through self-serving leaders‚ government had become infected with corruption‚ he added.

“Where once we were proud of our fledgling democracy‚ we are now resigned to headlines exposing scandal and fraud. At all levels‚ from national government right down to municipalities‚ corruption has taken its toll. The President himself is under a cloud of allegations‚ and many within his own party distrust his leadership. The fish‚ as they say‚ rots from the head.”

So while poverty and hardship continued‚ government was becoming less and less able to meet the needs of our people‚ Buthelezi said.

“Year after year‚ reports from the Auditor General expose failing municipalities. Financial mismanagement‚ wasteful expenditure‚ incompetent officials‚ tender fraud and a lack of leadership are common features across the board. Again and again municipalities are placed under administration. But there is a lack of political will to do what it takes to solve the problem.

“It is no wonder anger is rising. Our people have waited 22 years for promises to be fulfilled. When the ANC campaigned on the promise of free education in 1994‚ we never thought that students would have to riot on the steps of Parliament in 2016 to see that promise fulfilled. We never thought we would see schools being burned to the ground in protest in a democratic South Africa. It was the ANC who taught this form of protest. Now the ANC is the target of what it taught‚” the IFP leader asserted.