Durban — Freedom Front Plus might be known as a white conservative party. But according to its KwaZulu-Natal premier candidate, this is a misrepresentation. She says it is a diverse party with support across racial lines.
Rochelle Robbetze, who is the party’s provincial leader and number one on the provincial election’s candidate list, said her party was policy-based rather than racially based and believed in creating “equal opportunities for all”.
“We have supporters, members, councillors and candidates of different races and communities. We welcome members from all ethnicities and are growing our support across all communities,” said Robbetze.
The Sunday Tribune caught up with her on Tuesday when she and her comrades were busy with the final touches in preparations for the elections that would take place on Wednesday.
“We are crazy busy, in the last stretch, we have new councillors who have been sworn in, we have got the budget to discuss.
“I have got party training for my province and an interview with a radio station, so it is absolutely crazy,” said the Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipality councillor.
Like almost all political party leaders, the daughter of Cois Robbetze, former KwaZulu-Natal FF+ leader, was concerned about the alarming rate of corruption, which stagnated the country's economic growth.
“Our manifesto provides clear plans to address corruption, facilitate economic growth and create equal opportunities for all.
“We believe a new policy environment should be created which makes it easier for businesses to invest, grow and create job opportunities,” said Robbetze.
Her provincial government would invest in the agricultural sector to create opportunities for the provincial citizens.
However, crime also remained another headache.
“We need specialised crime investigation units that are prosecution-driven to combat organised crime.
“This includes better rural safety plans. We need to deploy resources more efficiently and professionalise the police force to combat all forms of crime,” she said.
Robbetze was born in Rustenburg in 1977 and spent most of her childhood growing up in Lydenburg, Mpumalanga Province. She studied somatology at the Pretoria Technikon before jetting off to London and Qatar in the Middle East for work purposes.
“Most of my time, I worked abroad in management and somatology. My father has been the leader of the FF+ for KZN for 22 years, although he has been involved in politics for 30 years.
“So I was brought up in a political home and I came back (from overseas) in 2016 as God had a plan for me to come back to assist the family to make a difference in politics.
“I was more needed in South Africa than I was abroad,” she said.
Sunday Tribune