1. ANC AS AN AGENT FOR CHANGE

The sixteen Commissions of NGC discussed and contributed on the theme: ANC -People’s movement and Agent for change. In their deliberations, delegates re-affirmed the revolutionary character of the movement and the leadership role it has won in the struggle of our people for freedom from oppression, hunger and want.

The Commissions examined the question of what makes the ANC different and sets it apart from other political forces in the country.

We confirmed that the character of the ANC derives from the historical context of the colonial and apartheid legacy; from our political programme to resolve the national contradictions arising from this legacy; from the mobilization of the social forces and strata that objectively stand to gain from this national democratic revolution and from the organizational culture and traditions of the movement that evolved over the decades.

Strategic objective and Tasks of the NDR

The strategic objective of the National Democratic Revolution remains the creation of a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa. Arising from this vision, our NDR must therefore achieve:-

• The unification of South Africa
• The deracialisation of South Africa
• Addressing gender oppression and
• Democratising South Africa.

The content of each of these goals is elaborated in our Strategy and Tactics (1997), which articulates the five basic pillars of the NDR as:

• Building and strengthening the ANC as a movement that organises and leads the people in the task of social transformation;
• Deepening our democracy and culture of human rights and mobilize the people to take active part in changing their lives for the better;
• Strengthen the hold of the democratic movement on state power, and transform the state machinery to serve the cause of social change;
• Pursue economic growth, development and redistribution in such a way as to improve the people’s quality of live; and
• Work with progressive forces throughout the world to promote and defend our transformation, advance Africa’s renaissance and build a new world order.

Commissions – against the backdrop of the Keynote address of the President and the Midterm report to the National General Council – reflected on the current context in which we are undertaking these tasks and on the prevailing balance of forces.

Delegates confirmed that 1994 constituted a strategic defeat for white colonial and apartheid rule, and that the essence of the strategic objective of the NDR is therefore the liberation of Africans in particular and blacks in general from political and economic bondage; the upliftment of the quality of life of all South Africans, especially the poor, the majority of whom are African and female. We have therefore used the victory of 1994 and the ANC becoming a majority party in government, as a beach-head towards achieving our strategic objective.

Our transformation also takes place in the context of globalisation and the widening gap between developed and developing countries. This poses major challenges to us, and at the same time it presents us with possibilities for engagement on the most urgent questions facing humanity.

We have taken our place amongst the forces in Africa, acting for peace and democracy and for the reconstruction and development of our continent, determined that it should take its place as an equal among all the continents of the world.

Having agreed on this context, Commissions elaborated and debated the tasks of the NDR, as derived from our strategic objective and influenced by our context. In doing so, delegates reviewed progress and the challenges raised by the Keynote address of the President and the Midterm Report. Commissions noted that we should include gender equality and women’s emancipation as amongst the strategic tasks of the NDR, elaborated in the Discussion document ‘Tasks of the NDR and the Motive forces’.

We started the process, which will be taken forward in the Commissions on our programme of action, of reviewing progress and identifying challenges in each of the NDR pillars – including deepening our democracy, meeting basic needs and fighting poverty, developing our human resources, economic transformation, transformation of the state, peace and security, nation-building, gender equality, the renaissance of Africa and working for a better world.

The motive forces of the NDR

Having identified the tasks of the NDR in the current phase, Commissions reflected on the social classes and strata, which the movement should mobilize and organise in pursuit of the objectives of the NDR. We noted that our definition of the motive forces as those who objectively stand to gain from the NDR have not changed. In analyzing the position and role of the array of social strata and forces, we re-affirmed that the working class remains the leader of the motive forces. We also confirm the bias of our movement towards the poor.

In our deliberations, we recognized that the changes in our society and the context of the world we live in, impact on the social strata that we seek to mobilize behind our vision. The movement must therefore continually seek to engage, mobilize and organise the broadest range of social forces, including sections of the motive forces that are dormant and to manage the contradictions that may arise between and amongst the motive forces.

The Unique organizational culture and traditions of the movement

Delegates deliberated on the rich organizational culture and traditions of the movement, how this organizational culture finds expression today, the external and internal factors that impact on this culture and how we continually reproduce this culture towards ongoing renewal.

The Commissions agreed with and re-affirmed the main characteristics of the revolutionary traditions of the ANC as:-

• Ability to adapt to the demands of the moment, to mobilize our people and to place the organisation at the head of popular resistance and of the revolution;
• The development of a people’s movement in theory and practice and a recognition that leadership has to be earned;
• In approaching problems, to identify sustainable solutions;
• Organisational forms and practices based on democratic centralism;
• Encouraging wide-ranging internal debate on ideological questions, on the critical issues facing the country and for theoretical clarity and discouraging dogmatism and encouraged questioning minds;
• Continuous link between theory and practice
• Ensure unity in action amongst the motive forces;
• Steadfastness to principles, shunning shortcuts and populism;
• Identify and seizing decisive moments;
• Our believe that the people shall govern.
• Universal character of the movement and learning from relevant international best practice;
• Pursuit of the widest possible unity amongst those struggling for a better life.

This, we concluded, is what sets the ANC apart and allowed it for close to ninety (90) years to remain a people’s movement, a revolutionary movement with the capacity to learn in action and for internal all-round renewal. Commissions noted that the last six years have introduced some qualitatively different objective factors, which impact on the traditions and organizational culture of the movement, and on our capacity to reproduce this culture. These factors include our election for a second successive term and with an overwhelming majority to be the leading party in government; the dominant value system of the world we live in; the impact of technological and scientific changes on human society; the continued marginalisation of the African continent and the developing world and the continued legacy of colonialism and apartheid in our country.

Delegates concluded that the central issue, which this NGC will resolve, is therefore how to ensure that our revolutionary traditions are reproduced and renewed, and how the movement strengthens its capacity to be an agent for change and the driver of fundamental transformation.

PROGRAMMATIC CHALLENGES FACING THE MOVEMENT

Having agreed on our approach, delegates examined the role and capacity of the structures and cadres of the movement in meeting these challenges. We noted that we took detailed resolutions at our 50th Conference to address these challenges, which the Secretary-General reported on in the Midterm report to the NGC. These resolutions on Building the Organisation set out the main challenges as:-

• Building strong branches with committed cadres linked to the masses, and involved in and leading local campaigns.
• Raising the political consciousness of our membership through a coordinated cadre development programme, which involves members in our programmes, mass campaigns, political induction of new members and programmes on gender equality.
• Affirmation of the democratic and mass character of the ANC by creating a climate and fora for political debates as the basis of political discipline within the structures of the movement.
• Building and supporting the Leagues as part of the programme of internal renewal and sectoral mobilization of the motive forces.
• Strengthening the Alliance through joint programmes of action and cadre development.
• Winning the impending local government elections with an overwhelming majority.
• Developing united leadership collectives.

Commissions reviewed these tasks, whilst acknowledging the continued organizational problems we face as a movement. We therefore raised the following strategic issues when looking at strengthening the capacity of the movement:-

a) Strengthening the mass character of the ANC by:-

• Asserting the centrality of the branch as the basic unit of the movement and building the capacity of branches to serve as vanguards of their communities, taking up campaigns around local development and community problems, mobilize and inform communities around government programmes; direct the work of local government; engage different sectors of the motive forces in their communities by strengthening the Alliance, the Leagues, building local broad fronts for transformation and targeting through specific programmes the working class, the poor and most vulnerable in communities.
• Strengthening the Alliance by creating effective forums at all levels for joint strategizing on the key questions facing the country and by developing programmes of action to mobilize our people and a broad front for transformation around the resolution of these questions. The ANC should take responsibility to help strengthen the component parts of the Alliance, especially the labour movement and to recruit into its ranks members of COSATU to play an active role in ANC branches and build Cosatu locals.
• Work amongst sectoral formations of students, professionals, religious communities, traditional leaders, the youth, women, business, NGO’s, structures in rural areas, civic associations and other social movements -strengthen and build them, join them in sectoral and inter-sectoral campaigns to realize the aims of the NDR and ensure targeted recruitment into the ANC from amongst their ranks.
• The effective use of mass campaigns as a national, strategic vehicle for social mobilisation and transformation – including our campaigns on HIV/AIDS, making schools work, against crime and corruption. Planning, implementing and monitoring of strategic national campaigns aimed at raising political consciousness and citizen responsibility; that highlight the key national transformation programmes and integrated and people-centred development; and that strengthen the links between government and communities and overall ensuring a people in motion for transformation and in defense of our democratic gains;
• Effective internal communication and communication with government so that our members can access information to participate in debates on national and local issues and can explain the policies and programmes of the movement to communities and for governance structures to be responsive to the concerns of local communities.
• Strengthen social activism and voluntarism in our members and communities generally, through programmes such as clean-up campaigns, community care for orphans and elderly, through youth service programmes, etc.
• Utilise tried and tested methods of direct interaction with the masses (door to door work, house, constituency and ward meetings, etc) and the new technology;
• Capacity building for branches: including ensuring that leadership collectives (REC, PEC and NEC) support the work of branches, deployment, branch manuals, induction of BEC’s, administrative and other resources should be provided, encouraging leadership and cadres deployed to play a role in their branches and giving political and organizational leadership to branch work and programmes.

b) Cadre policy and development of our members

• Induction of new members, ensure that members are developed and schooled in the organizational culture and politics of the movement by involving them in political discussions and action;
• Deepen political consciousness as a means of instilling discipline in the movement.
• Ensure in our recruitment that we consciously draw into the ANC all sectors of the motive forces, with targeted approaches to ensure a fair spread of old and young, men and women, the participation of workers, including COSATU shop-stewards in ANC branches, the rural masses, other national groups, professionals, etc. and that the movement should become the repository of the best in our society – both in terms of ability and values;
• We should develop more rapidly than before cadres who are steeped in the culture and politics of the movement with an uncompromising commitment to the people through our cadre development programmes and involving members in action;
• Implement and expand our political school and a human resource programme, that ensures the continual reproduction of cadres in terms of political, ideological, cultural and moral training; academic and skills development to take on the diverse tasks of transformation (including expanding economic literacy) in a range of spheres of society and adapt the methodology and content of our political education to meet the challenges of the current phase;
• Induction for leadership collectives, encourage political discussions in all meetings, cement unity and anti-factionalism in all our leadership collectives and structures;
• Encourage cadre values of selflessness, commitment to the people, criticisms and self-criticism, anti factionalism, readiness to serve, etc. · Strengthen our deployment strategy and address the weaknesses we have identified; address the issues of promotion and career-pathing;
• Provide mechanisms for cadres deployed in a variety of centres to engage on the challenges they face and to engage with cadres in other centres, allowing for the development of perspectives broader than their areas of specialisation, and to test their work against these broader perspectives;
• Strengthen and deepen the culture of debate on the complex issues facing our country, our continent and the world we live in; have these discussions in our leadership collectives, in the Alliance, amongst our members and in society generally.

c) Improve policy, ideological leadership by the ANC of public discourse and formulation of policy

• Strengthen the research capacity of the movement through the Policy Institute, better co-ordination with our parliamentary research division and with Alliance policy structures; ensure that the Policy Institute informs strategic debates in the movement through deployment of senior cadres to the institute, through assessment of the impact of our policies, regular analysis of research on subjective and objective changes in the motive forces and in public opinion, raising new debates in the movement, etc.
• Improving internal and external communications, using time-tested activities that involve direct contact with the masses (door to door work, house, street and ward meetings, listening forums, public hearings, constituency work, etc.) and through the use of new technologies. This should include using our new membership system to do a more scientific analysis of our members and to maintain regular contact with our members.
• The Youth League should lead the campaign to ensure that the future generations have access to and use new technologies, through internet cafes, encouraging and facilitating the entry of young men and women into career paths in the ‘new economy’ and non-traditional areas of learning, etc.
• Improve mechanisms in the ANC and Alliance’s communication units to service the media, encourage activism and debate by our cadres and progressive intellectuals, ensure that the voice of ordinary people on the major questions facing the country are heard and use Parliament and the legislatures as tribunes of the people.

d)The relationship between organizational structures and governance

• Re-affirm the resolutions of Mafikeng of the movement as the political center and the different measures to improve this, including our policy development processes, accountability structures of public representatives and monitoring and assessment of our transformation programmes by structures of the movement.

e) Rooting out corrupt elements from our ranks and from our society 

• Re-affirm and implement the resolution of Mafikeng and our January 8, 2000 statement.

f) Building international alliances and strengthening our interaction and interventions as an organisation on the African continent, the developing world and in our relations with developed countries.

2. PROGRAMME OF ACTION

The National General Council in commissions reviewed and debated progress in the implementation of our vision of a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa. Delegates noted that we have made important strides towards the realization of this vision, but much more need to be done to rid our society of the legacy of colonialism and apartheid.

Commissions re-affirmed the policies adopted at our 50th Conference and noted progress in implementation of our resolutions. Commissions considered the obstacles and challenge of speeding up change in a range of spheres fundamental to the transformation of our society.

Delegates noted that the movement as an agent for change must of necessity develop strategies and programmes to overcome the obstacles and to ensure programmes that will speed up change. Commissions discussed the interventions necessary to achieve this and mandated the National Executive Committee to translate this into concrete Action plans for all sectors of the movement.

1. ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION

Transformation objectives

The ANC’s 50th National Conference in Mafikeng passed a comprehensive resolution on Economic Transformation and that this constitutes the policy framework of the ANC between Conferences. The Resolution sets out the basic objectives of economic policy and the critical areas that had to be addressed if economic policies are to have an impact on transformation. In the Introduction the resolution stated that :

“[T]he mission of the ANC continues to be the fundamental transformation of the South African economy in order to empower black people, especially Africans (collectively as well as communities and as individuals); eliminate poverty and the extreme inequalities generated by the apartheid system; generate productive employment opportunities for our people at a living wage; and ensure balanced South African economic development. “The ANC does not underestimate the problems that we inherited and acknowledges that we will not overcome these in a short period. Progress has been made in the provision of basic services and in the macroeconomic stabilisation. However, we have a long way to go, particularly in the transformation of the economy.” (paragraph 1.1)

Progress

There have been significant developments in the economy over the last two and a half years.

• GDP has averaged 2,2 per cent per annum since 1994, declining in 1998 due to the Asian crisis. It is now poised for strong growth over the next five years, with finished manufactured exports growing strongly.
• Income inequality between races has fallen – the African population’s share of income has increased markedly. However, the gap between the rich and poor between and within race groups is widening. The challenges of inequality, unemployment and poverty remain severe.
• Core inflation declined from 15,3 per cent at the start of the decade to average 7,7 per cent over the last two years.
• Budgetary shift in favour the poorest and most disadvantaged communities, a reducing budget deficit and reduction in public debt.
• However, continued economic growth requires more investment and saving. Private sector investment increased, but saving remained weak.

Strategic approach

That there are a number of sectoral and cross-sectoral issues that will require specific action and focus by the ANC and the different levels of government.

1. In the area of macro economics the ANC government faced some difficult choices in its first six years and were bold enough to make tough decisions. As a result we have stabilised the macro-economy. There has been fundamental reform of the Budget and we have succeeded in significantly reprioritising spending toward health, education, welfare and infrastructure. Resources are available for the poor and the most vulnerable through special allocations for poverty relief. We have reduced the deficit and the economy has been decisively moved away from an intolerable debt situation. This has freed resources for spending. Inflation has been reduced and this will protect the poor. The economy is better placed to achieve higher growth over the coming years.

2. The challenge is to raise the levels of investment and savings and to mobilise resources for development. The current low savings level means that the level of foreign investment we have to attract is very high and therefore difficult to achieve. Taxes have been reduced on interest from savings and income taxes. This should leave more money in peoples’ pockets. Yet there is much more that we must do.

3. Major structural changes have occurred in our manufacturing and agricultural sectors and these have considerably increased our competitiveness in trade and lowered the rate of inflation. However, the challenges of developing our economy within the context of globalisation, will require clear and integrated industrial policy and trade policy. This will include greater emphasis on support for new and emerging enterprises, black economic empowerment, collective and cooperative activity and support for local economic development.

4. The first phase of information and communications technology infrastructure provision has largely been completed. This included the extension of services, the upgrading and modernisation of the information communication technology infrastructure (ICT) of the country and its repositioning for global competition. By accelerating the adoption of these technologies in our production processes and across economic supply chains; reducing the “digital divide” with developed economies, we can transform the effectiveness of social service delivery and the efficiency of the productive sectors.

5. The potential of tourism is closer to being realised as considerable new investment has taken place in tourism infrastructure. A fund for the international marketing of RSA as a tourist destination has been created and Satour transformed. Regional integration of the tourism industry has commenced with the opening of the Kgalagadi Trans-frontier Park, the Lebombo SDI and plans for other such parks. However, the level of empowerment is inadequate and more development can be achieved.

6. Agriculture remains of fundamental importance in the South African economy. There has been insufficient focus within the ANC on the questions of ownership and productive use in the context of an agrarian reform programme. We should pay greater attention to the linkages between agriculture and other economic and social sectors; with a view towards enhancing job creation opportunities in the agricultural sector. To achieve this, the sector will require more effective farmer support services at provincial level, including supporting production for domestic and export markets and household food security. Agriculture must be modernised through supportive infrastructure, technology and information.

7. The renewed commitment of government, business and labour at the Mining Summit to promote the mining industry, ensure initiatives aimed at job creation, job retention, support for social plans, rural development, value addition and improved mine safety must be vigorously implemented. Steps need to be taken to ensure that our mineral policy contribute towards transforming the racially-based ownership patterns in this sector.

8. The considerable expansion of electricity supply is a crucial element of our programme to meet the basic needs of our people and for the development of a modern manufacturing industry. Government must continue to prioritise the delivery of affordable and sustainable energy and electricity to all communities. The programme to provide safe and affordable energy must contribute to the enhancement of black economic empowerment, human resource development, the Integrated Rural Development Strategy and of Local Economic Development.

9. More work needs to be done to develop policy and towards implementation of a cross-sectoral employment strategy. Employment patters have changed and unemployment remains amongst the most serious socio-economic problems we face; impacting on the general standard of living.

10. The Commission noted the importance of land reform, rural development and black economic empowerment within our overall economic transformation programme.

Programmatic tasks

Macroeconomic Policy

• Although macro-economic stability remains a necessary condition for growth, it is not a sufficient condition for growth, development and job creation. Other, more targeted strategies are necessary.

Globalisation

• The movement needs to deepen its understanding of this phenomenon, how it evolves, and assess the manner in which we have responded thus far, for example through our trade, investment and industrial policies. These discussions should also look at sustainable strategies to close the gap between developed and developing countries.

RSA Economic Growth Process/ Employment Losses and Shifts Industrial and Sectoral Policies

• The movement needs to understand the growth process and analyse the trends in a more disaggregated way in order to improve sectorally specific policies and strategies. In this process, there is a need to pinpoint the sectorally specific nature and causes of the shifts in, and losses of, employment and to develop strategic programmes to address these.
• The Economic Transformation Committee must complete its work on the updating of industry policy and the restructuring of state assets and ensure that these are widely discussed and rapidly translated into policy and action. The Sectoral Summits that are now taking place should continue and in the light of the pace of change in the global economy these will possibly have to be held every few years.

SMMEs

• There has to be an intensification of the programs to develop small, medium and micro enterprises. This must focus on a better service to enterprises, improved procurement practices by the public sector and new initiatives to create access to affordable finance.
• There is also a need to address skill deficiencies, access to finance, the risk aversion of our financial sector and discrimination. In this process, the role of existing institutions like Khula, Ntsika, etc, need to be examined. Furthermore, there is a need to develop our thinking on cooperatives, including cooperative banks. The creation of a venture capital market requires investigation.

Infrastructural development

• In light of the huge backlogs on infrastructure, with critical implications for both economic and social development, government must find ways to mobilise fiscal, business, individual and community resources to expand and maintain infrastructure.
• To improve government planning and funding, Government departments in all spheres of government and state-owned enterprise must co-ordinate their priorities around infrastructure,
• Long-term planning for infrastructure must be undertaken in the context of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, to provide for long lead times, seasonal trends and both capital and operational expenditure, and Municipalities must review tariffs to ensure that they provide an adequate and sustainable lifeline service for the poor.
• Programmes to establish, promote and sustain partnerships with private and community groups will be developed, including model contracts as well as guidelines and capacity for monitoring and regulation to ensure that private partners meet key targets, especially for extending and improving infrastructure in historically underserved communities, and the standardisation of procedures for procurement, contracting and payment across all infrastructure development sectors, including procedures to access public-sector funding mechanisms such as the DBSA, the World Bank and INCA.
• To leverage private funds, Government will consider Using public-sector funds to shape more attractive investment opportunities, Designing Development Challenge programmes where the private sector is specifically and publicly invited to match government or parastatal investment rand for rand with marketing and advertisement benefits, similar to sponsorship of sporting or entertainment events, and Specifying that major development programmes must set aside a small percentage of their investment for social capital, for instance community facilities.
• Government must ensure that infrastructure programmes advance black economic empowerment by ensuring adequate household and economic infrastructure in historically black regions, including in the rural areas, and defining minimum standards and lifeline tariffs to achieve that aim, and to support black contractors, developing appropriate guidelines, including targets for their share in expenditure, and ensuring co-ordination with the Public Works Emerging Contractor programme, Khula, Ntsika, the National Urban Reconstruction Housing Agency and similar programmes.

Investment and Savings

• The ANC must promote, the development of socially accountable capital, the allocation of capital to the benefit of disadvantaged people and communities, and equality in wealth by supporting increased ownership of assets by workers and communities.
• Government must develop an agency to regulate the financial sector in ways that will maximise its contribution to broad-based development and employment.
• The ANC’s programme for economic transformation must include effective and realistic measures to reduce real interest and the cost of capital, especially for job-creating projects, SMMEs and infrastructure development, and to direct the investible surpluses already accumulated in financial institutions and pensions to support economic transformation and black economic empowerment with specific mechanisms, such as targets, to address gender imbalances.
• After promulgation of the Homeloan and Mortgage Disclosure Act, government must implement it vigorously; and it must introduce community reinvestment legislation in order to monitor lending patterns by financial institutions, identify problem areas for government intervention and maximise mobilisation of housing finance and particularly credit to low income communities to meet their housing needs.
• Government must develop investment in economic infrastructure to improve the overall efficiency of the economy and help mobilise private investment. Its investment programmes must support employment and economic growth especially in less developed regions.

Minerals and Energy

In accordance with the principle of national patrimony and custodianship, the state will grant prospecting or mining rights which will:

• Promote equitable access to the nation’s mineral resources and move speedily towards the legislation that will ensure the implementation of the “use it or lose it Policy”
• Promote local and foreign investment in exploration and mining (the current system of mineral rights ownership is a barrier to entry to new entrants (both local and foreign) in the South African minerals and mining industry);
• Prevent future conflicts based on access to mineral resources; and give effect to the constitutional obligation of the State to bring about land and related reforms to promote equitable access to South Africa’s natural resources for security of tenure.
• To review mine safety measures with an aim to further improve mine safety.
• Further consolidate on the gains made by the tripartite: Business, Government and Labour by putting into operation the resolution of the mining summit and establish relevant institutional mechanisms which must lead to job creation and job retention.
• Implement a comprehensive HIV/AIDS plan targeting the mining communities and their families in urban and rural areas.
• Enhance support to small miners, junior miners and women miners through services of state institutions.
• With regards to energy, government must proceed with speedy delivery of energy and electricity to communities that have limited/no access to energy. Government should ensure that delivery of energy is linked to BEE and HRD and that it is part of an Integrated Development Strategy that enhances Rural Local Economic Development.

Black Economic Empowerment

• Black economic empowerment must be viewed as an integrated strategy aimed at achieving the objectives of the RDP. It encapsulates a broad net of empowerment processes that include, amongst others, poverty alleviation, job creation, rural development, national savings, skills transfer, the empowerment of women, youth empowerment, education, skills and local economic development, meaningful ownership and access to finance to conduct business.
• A national strategy on black economic empowerment needs to be adopted that ensures that ownership initiatives have a broader impact on poverty alleviation and rural development, that the necessary institutional support and instruments are in place and that an affordable and appropriate framework aimed at improving access to finance for businesses and households needs to be devised. That the above be overseen by an appropriate coordinating structure.

 Land Reform

• Land reform should be fast-tracked through the expropriation and redistribution of underutilized and unused farmland (including state-owned land) and it’s transfer to poor communities and black entrepreneurs for productive use, income generation and job creation;
• The legislative process of transferring the mineral rights to the state should be speeded up;
• The ANC should lead in facilitating the creation of an enabling environment for the expansion of and diversification of the base of producers of food and agricultural export commodities;
• The ANC led government should create a framework to ensure the availability of supportive infrastructure, information, technology and training support to the beneficiaries of the agrarian reform programme which allows for the participation of the private sector and civil society;
• In implementing these programmes greater attention must be paid at all levels to the need to change the settlement patterns of the past and facilitate maximum access to basic services and economically sustainable cities;

Rural development

• The ANC at all levels should ensure that the government’s framework for rural development take into account the need for short to medium term goals the outcomes of which must be sustainable in the long term;
• To ensure that the critical components of a consolidated rural development implementation strategy that need to be taken into consideration by government should include: – dedicated and inclusive institutional arrangements; a focus on targeting areas for economic development; concerted initiatives to facilitate capacity building and human resources development and the application of modern technology to facilitate planning, innovation and monitoring of outcomes.
• To urge government to put in place policies on rural finance, value addition in rural areas, affirmative procurement policy and build productive capacity through cooperatives and SMEs, targeting of vulnerable groups (women, youth and the disabled) in rural areas in order to create an enabling environment for the attainment of our vision for rural areas. ETC to develop an overarching strategy.

Social partnership

• There is a need for dialogue amongst Alliance partners on many of the critical areas discussed, including globalisation, the nature of employment shifts, the nature of the RSA economy, savings and investment, sector policy development including sector summits.

Capacity of State (National, Provincial and Local)

• There is a need to increase capacity in government. The capacity does not have to be physically created in for example, Govt. Departments, but should broaden national intellectually capacity by networking and more clearly defining the role of professionals and intelligentsia in our society. Improved capacity should also enhance the quality of expenditure and reduce Government roll-overs. We should more effectively utilise Government procurement as an instrument of policy, taking into account the relationship between government procurement and empowerment policy.

Skills development

• The ANC and the Alliance must ensure rigorous and accelerated implementation of the SAQA, Skills Development and Skills Development Financing Acts.
• In the process we must accelerate the development of the National Qualifications Framework, ensuring in particular that it provides standards and assessment mechanisms for lower skilled workers and in poor regions.
• Curriculum redress must be accelerated to ensure that historically African schools are able to teach subjects needed to prepare learners for employment, especially science, mathematics, arts and culture.
• To ensure greater participation by ANC structures in economic discussion and policy-making. This will also require a comprehensive education program of our cadres.

Impact of our economic policies

We should, in close co-operation with the Alliance and progressive capacity inside and outside of government, immediately undertake a research project to assess all economic policies in terms of their impact on

• The levels and nature of employment,
• Savings and investment,
• The distribution of income and wealth, in terms of gender, race, class and region, and
• The impact on the southern African region.

Programmatic Tasks

ANC structures must become sources of strategic information, (e.g. government project, new laws etc.) In order to achieve this they would need to:

• create space for political discussions, internal ANC policy processes (refer to Mafikeng ANC policy process resolution);
• regularly reflect on resolutions made at ANC conferences;
• implement and augment effectiveness of ETC through amongst others the development of policy research.

Members should:-

• Take responsibility for implementing of conference resolutions,
• Participate in public debate to reflect real situation, improve own understanding of ANC policy,
• take responsibility for own learning of e-technology and bio-technology,
• actively participate in local organizations and “spread the word”,
• recognize that economic power is more difficult to obtain than political power; always remember that they are ANC members,
• recognise capacity of each other and support, change mindset of the young and old, on theft/crime, environment, government role, social responsibility;

2. THE NATIONAL QUESTION

The ANC has throughout its existence formulated responses as a national liberation movement and remains committed to the achievement of non-racialism, non-sexism and the economic emancipation of our people. The ANC is strategically positioned to develop theoretical and practical solutions to the challenges of the National Question. There exist immense possibilities and opportunities for our movement to lead society in the eradication of racism, sexism and the exploitation of the working people because the ANC is both a liberation movement and a governing party. The Mafikeng resolution on the national question has laid the foundation for the ANC to implement the transformative objectives.

Transformation Objectives

The primary objective of the ANC remains the creation of a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa. To achieve this objective we must:-

• Eradicate the legacy of apartheid colonialism.
• Facilitate the process of nation building and
• Build a patriotism that cements us as South Africans with an allegiance to our country.

Challenges and Obstacles

• There exist socio-economic disparities between whites (mainly urban based) and relatively prosperous and their fellow black compatriots who are living in abject poverty (mainly in rural areas). The worst affected remain black women, children and the disabled.
• The triple oppression of women (race, class and gender) must be addressed simultaneously within the National Democratic Revolution. Ethnic polarization and naked racism is re-emerging amongst certain national groups.
• Transformation of the state is paramount if we are to address the needs and aspirations of all our people

Strategic intervention and programmatic tasks

1. Monitor the implementation of legislation and international conventions on the promotion of equality, the eradication of all forms of racism and the elimination of discrimination against women. We need to measure the impact of legislation passed by parliament and ensure that laws passed contribute to nation building and the forging of a common national consciousness.

2. We must fast track the transformation of the state and ensure that government departments implement policies on gender equality. The civil service must be reflective of the broad cross-section of the South African population. We need to adopt a deliberate programme to address the endemic racism and old order tendencies within the security forces.

3. The ANC must empower our branches to provide leadership wherever there are negative perceptions on the implementation of our affirmative action policies. The ANC must take responsibility to monitor and eliminate any form of racism within the workplace.

4. The ANC needs to continue developing strategies aimed at ensuring the promotion of gender equality within our structures and in our communities. We need to review our gender approach and ensure that the quota system within our organization is supported by skills and cadre development. Gender equality in the rural areas must be encouraged bearing in mind the sensitivities on customs and traditions.

5. The ANC must campaign for the access to credit for rural women in particular and for the establishment of projects aimed at empowering women. We must facilitate the entry of black entrepreneurs into the mainstream of the economy and tighten government tendering processes to discourage the fronting by black companies and individuals- the so-called “Rent a Black”. Black Economic Empowerment groupings must assist in improving the quality of life of our people through supportive programmes.

6. To progressively work towards the re-orientation of urban and rural spatial planning to encourage the growth and emergence of racial integrated communities.

7. The ANC governmental programmes must focus on poor women who live mainly in resource starved rural areas. The programmes must prioritize economic empowerment and address the HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases.

8. The NEC must organize a national workshop to develop a strategy to draw Coloured, Indians and Whites into the ranks of the national liberation movement. We must combat any form of ethnicity, narrow nationalism and regionalism within our ranks and society in general.

9. The ANC must actively take up the cause of the poor rural blacks (African, Coloured and Indian) people who are still victims of the crudest and vilest racist practices.

10. The ANC must empower its members and create the capacity to engage in debates in the media on matters related to racism and gender. We must support and revitalize community media. The ANC must address matters relate to the usage of language within our structures and pay special attention to cultural development.

11. The ANC must work together with COSATU to address to address the plight of farm and domestic workers. The ANC must focus on cases that involve violence by farmers on farm workers and ensure that the criminal justice system does not discriminate against these victims.

12. We must also recognize that religion and tradition is used to discriminate against women undermining nation building and gender equality. The ANC must organize and mobilize women who suffer from domestic violence and abuse including white women.

13. The ANC must support the initiative of the Women’s League to conduct an audit to identify the needs of both urban and rural women including women from all national groups. The Women’s League must be strengthened to offer strategic leadership to the emerging Women’s Movement.

14. The ANC must encourage the ANCYL to continue to reach out to the white youth especially the Afrikaner youth and identify a common platform for youth mobilization and organization.

15. The ANC must ensure that all institutions of learning open the doors of culture, skilling and learning to all South Africans on an equal and equitable basis.

16. We must address the land question and property relations in our country and speed up the land restitution and the redistribution of land to the previously disadvantaged communities. The land reform programme must be accelerated to give the rural poor more equitable access to productive land and correct the highly skewed ownership land patterns.

17. The ANC must develop strategies and programmes to mobilize the public and sectoral formations in support of the up-coming national and international conferences on racism. The ANC should continue to explore common programmes with other parties that share the vision and values of non-racialism.

18. The educational and cultural institutions including public owned media must be actively encouraged the affirmation of an African reality. Conscious teaching of African history as part of the school curriculum should be introduced to instill a sense of patriotism and promote the ideals of non-racialism.

19. A massive state-led education programme on gender equality must be launched to liberate both men and women from the stereotype of the past. We need to identify ways and means to combat racism that still manifests itself in educational institutions.

20. We must building interpersonal relationship between members of all national groups through the participation in social, cultural, sporting, and religious events.

3. GOVERNANCE AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE STATE

Transformation objectives

• Our transformation objectives arise from the fact that the movement is not yet in control of all levers of state power.
• The National Democratic Revolution requires a strong, efficient, developmental and truly democratic state, able to ensure open and accountable government, redirect its own services to meet the needs of the majority, especially the poor, and restructure the economy to improve the distribution of income and wealth and generate employment.
• A crucial component of this process is ensuring that the doctrines, composition and management style of all structures of government reflect and serve South African society as a whole. It also involves developing the institutions of governance such that form, capabilities and systems correspond to the nature of tasks and activities that such institutions are expected to undertake.
• We are in a phase in which we have started to change society at the same time as we transform the instruments required to effect that change. A central aspect of this process is the restructuring of the public service, which is underpinned by the need to:
• Ensure open and accountable government;
• Ensure that service delivery is efficient and effective and that it is accessed by communities;
• Restructure the economy to improve the distribution of income and wealth;
• Generate employment.

Challenges

• We have made progress in setting up state institutions that can act as instruments of change and we have established policy frameworks that give direction to these instruments. However, we have failed to mobilise the motive forces around these programmes and they have not been empowered to engage with these instruments. This is a major cause for concern, especially since the affluent are well placed to engage with and influence government policy processes.
• The youth in particular need to be mobilised behind the revolution, to which end limited resources must be directed at addressing issues such as high unemployment, which constrains the participation of the youth. This argument can be extended to other stratas of society.
• The impact of government delivery is uneven across the motive forces. It was observed that we are often unable to spend budgetary allocations for programmes targeting. This results from a number of factors including (a) deliberate sabotage by forces opposed to the NDR, (b) an absence of capacity to implement such programmes and (c) a lack of mobilisation in poor communities in relation to these programmes.
• A major challenge is how to manage fears and uncertainties that will inevitably be generated by our programme of change.
• We also face the challenge of developing a common understanding of the movement’s vision for transformation of the state.
• But perhaps the most important challenge is to decisively shift our focus from broad policy formulation to the implementation of our policies.

Strategic approach

• We need to expand the scope and extend the reach of state transformation. This involves accelerate processes of change in institutions such as the security forces, the judiciary, parastatals and regulatory bodies.
• Developing mechanisms to monitor, review and evaluate the performance of public servants in order to ensure that those deliberately hindering service delivery are removed, and delivery failures resulting from ignorance and a lack of understanding are addressed.
• We need to tighten our deployment strategy to ensure that there are conscious agents for change at all levels of government.
• Having achieved considerable progress in the deployment of political and administrative heads, we now need to put greater emphasis on restructuring middle management in strategic areas in the public service. This should be conducted in the context of a review of the skills of cadres committed to transformation and the development of training programmes to skill and prepare them to take on new responsibilities in the civil service.

Planning and Co-ordination

• It is important that we create a tangible sense of one government at all levels. This involves co-ordination and integration of planning and implementation between departments, across spheres of government and between the institutions of governance and the mass movement.

Skills Development

• Ongoing training and learning at all levels of the public service is required. Of particular importance is training in technical fields such as financial management. Our skills development programmes should not only focus on senior management but also reach the lowest levels of government.

Enhancing ANC Policy Co-ordination

• We need to ensure that the movement acts as a political center that coordinates the implementation of a detailed programme for the transformation of the state. This political center needs to be properly capacitated to perform its functions through, amongst other initiatives, creation of a policy institute to generate ideas, conduct research and drive the policy initiatives.

Building Participatory Democracy

• We need to increase the participation of the masses in policy making and implementation. This involves developing clear mechanisms for communication between government and communities, that facilitate the unblocking of problems relating to the delivery of services to communities. Transformation and delivery cannot simply be proclaimed form above, but requires a chain of agents for change who can effectively mobilize communities and engage with the institutions of governance at every level.
• In order to empower communities to play an active role in the transformation of the state, the information and communication system should provide a countrywide network, which provides every citizen with information required to live and to control his or her life. This network includes all instruments of communication, including the government communication system, the public broadcaster and the private media.

Restructuring of State Owned Enterprises

• In order to meet our developmental goals, we need to focus the restructuring of State Owned Assets in those sectors that will realize maximum economic and social impact. We should also enhance the co-ordination of social plan mechanisms applied to specific restructuring initiatives to alleviate possible short-term employment losses.
• Restructuring should be conducted in a manner that ensures the maintenance of the quality of services especially to the poor, and advances the process of black economic empowerment, with due consideration to the development of management capacity. Furthermore, the restructuring process should not preclude the creation of new state agencies, for example, the National Empowerment Fund, Ntsika or similar institutions that may be required to meet our developmental needs.

Programmatic tasks

1. The programmatic tasks should be seen in the context of the resolutions of the 50th National Conference of the ANC that relate to governance and transformation of the state. These resolutions are still relevant in the current context and detailed implementation programmes should be devised around them. In this regard, all structures are urged to move from the process of policy formulation to one of detailed programatisation and implementation.

2. While noting that structures do exist within the alliance to discuss and agree on our broad approach to transformation, we need to review the functioning of these structures at all levels. Such structures, which would constitute the basis of a political center responsible for the overall direction of state transformation, would not be involved in details of policy (e.g. wage setting) but would rather seek consensus on key strategic issues.

3. The ANC must play a proactive role in the full transformation of the state, in terms of:

4. Ensuring efficient service delivery

5. Encouraging ongoing human resource development at all level;

6. Assess and re-evaluate the national framework agreement on the restructuring of state assets.

7. Develop mechanisms to ensure that the government responds quickly to blockages and problems at community level. The role of ANC branches in identifying and solving problems is crucial. In line with our understanding of the ANC as an agent for change, branches of the ANC must lead in the process of exposing and fighting corruption, identifying blockages to delivery and ensuring solutions to problems. Specific branch activities should include:

8. Regular monitoring of the quality of service delivery at local level.

9. Linking up with MECs and local government Councillors to ensure that obstacles to delivery are dealt with effectively.

10. Develop strong local linkages with alliance structures to ensure coordination of interventions to unblock delivery problems at local level in schools, clinics etc.

11. Participation in local government budget processes

12. Educating the community regarding government programmes and communicating effectively with communities through local public forums.

13. Assist with the practical implementation of Batho Pele at local level, with the involvement of local communities by ensuring that communities are aware of their rights and the obligations of government officials.

14. Government should consider holding a major conference of public servants to discuss their role at the coal face of creating a democratic and accountable government which is responsive to the needs of the majority.

15. Extending the integrated planning approach of national government (e.g. Cabinet Cluster Committees) to others spheres of government.

16. Legislatures need to strengthen their oversight role and play a more meaningful role in the monitoring of programmes and the allocation of resources. Furthermore, the linkages between ANC study groups and broader structures of the democratic movement should be strengthened at all levels to facilitate participation and input into legislative and oversight functions.

17. There is a need to more clearly define the role of various structures in the policy making process, for example the role of political heads and administrative heads, with the latter taking greater responsibility for implementation.

4. HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT

Transformation objectives

1. To firmly locate and frame Human Resources Strategy in relation to the central tasks of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) which specifically seeks to secure the emancipation of the black majority in general, and Africans in particular;

2. To effectively integrate and strategically coordinate all the critical elements of our national Human Resources Development strategy both on the ‘demand-side’ and ‘supply side’;

3. To ensure integration and synergy of HR institutions and resources both horizontally and vertically, as well as within all the countries’ regions; 4. To ensure that HR Strategy articulates closely with the macro-economic policy frameworks;

5. To ensure ANC structures (branches, REC’s, PEC’s) and Legislative Institutions take direct responsibility in giving strategic content and direction to HRD interventions at local level;

6. To develop a national HRD Framework with clear targets, backed by an updated database on HR trends and requirements;

7. To ensure that educational curricula should reflect progressive values and principles that are crucial for wider social transformation -particularly at learning institutions;

8. To implement Mafikeng resolutions on free, compulsory education to provide a firm basis for HRD, particularly in historically disadvantaged sectors of our society.

9. To ensure the issue of equity and redress is firmly embedded in any process of institutional restructuring.

Challenges

1. Contradictory situation in S.A.: on the one hand, massive skills shortages; on the other hand, surplus of trained personnel in certain sectors;

2. Serious gap between the direction dictated by Education Policy and the dominant logic of the economy: disarticulation;

3. We have a formidable arsenal of policy instruments in place, but relatively weak capacity and success rate at the level of implementation -especially in respect of ensuring that resources reach the poor;

4. Traditional ‘supply-side’ HRD strategies inadequate for the needs of a modern economy, and needs to be substituted by a more flexible, adaptive and strategically-focused HRD strategy;

5. Our HRD databases are weak and lack up-to-date information of trends in the labour market;

6. At a strategic level, leadership of many critical HRD institutions and drivers is left to chance, with insufficient attention to cadre deployment to ensure they fulfil the objectives of social transformation (e.g. SETA’s);

7. In some cases (e.g. Size and Shape, Curriculum 2005 Review), there has been an insufficient level of consultation amongst ANC and Alliance structures, thus leading to unnecessary conflict and distrust;

8. ‘Old guard’ bureaucrats still dominate many critical institutions whose role is vital to the transformation of human resources;

9. Within townships, there is an alarming deterioration of schools, and with this, an efflux of students & students – leading to the decapitalization of townships – and high level of expenditure of keeping black students in formerly white or Model C schools;

10. The ‘culture of teaching and learning’ (COLTS) has seriously been eroded with institutional governance of schools (the primary HR vehicles) still a major challenge to the movement to overcome;

11. Many learning institutions are seriously disarticulated from local communities and local economic networks;

12. There is an absence of strong Early Childhood Development (ECD) in particularly African townships;

13. There are still serious capacity problems in Provinces, leading to financial resources being returned due to under-spending;

14. HRD Strategy needs to be linked to challenges of ‘regional economic/political’ integration and the ‘new economy’ imperatives;

15. National ‘brain-drain’ still a major problem in key skills areas (migration out of the country);

16. There is still an alarming degree of skills departure (e.g. In Engineering, Finance, Technical) from local government.

Strategic approach

1. HRD Strategy and Policy is an essential political task and requires national priority – and with this, a national champion;

2. Cabinet needs to examine memorandum on HR Strategy for its adoption and implementation, taking into account NGC resolutions in Port Elizabeth;

3. NEC should create a Human Resources Sub-Committee or, alternatively, ensure HR is a standing item on the Committee on Social Transformation, to drive the process politically;

4. There is a need to revive Alliance Education ‘Political Centre’ to review and debate policy development initiatives;

5. Cadre Development strategy should be focused on ensuring progressive forces are place in key HR institutions;

6. Government needs to conduct a comprehensive HR ‘impact audit’ to understand the impact of current and future HR policies;

7. ANC needs to revive the Mafikeng Resolution on the need for an ‘Education Summit’ focusing on strategic implementation issues;

8. ANC Policy Institute should play a major role in HRD at a policy and strategic level;

9. ANC to focus efforts on development of a committed educational cadre to advance the transformation agenda;

10. We must urgently rehabilitate township schools to be strong centres of learning and teaching, and community empowerment centres;

11. Community structures, led by the ANC, must take urgent control over schools especially in the realm of government, and this must be enabled through training of community leaders;

12. We need to consider deploying Development Cadres in rural areas to assist communities in strategic human resource development;

13. ANC structures must vigorously defend schools and their resources as assets owned by the community;

14. There must be an aggressive policy on placing Internet technologies within reach of local communities, with an emphasis on rural women;

15. HRD strategy within South Africa must be strategically linked to regional integration efforts within the context of the SADC region – common market, political integration, etc.

16. Overall, cadre development is indispensable if we are to ensure that community leadership can take effective control over HRD policy at local level.

Programmatic tasks

1. The need for activating and directing ANC branches to ensure community institutions such as schools are properly governed and directed in support of HRD; as well as involvement of branches in HRD budget-making processes;

2. Need to avoid bureaucratically-driven transformation interventions by empowering ANC structures at local level to drive such interventions;

3. Cadre Development at branch level to build critical capacities is a vital task over the coming period, particularly in technical, economic and planning areas; and this should be coupled with a skills audit of branch members;

4. ANC cadres must play active role in SGB’s and other HRD structures at local level to ensure effective political oversight;

5. ANC Secretariat at HQ must provide strong leadership to all, especially local level;

6. ANC must direct our legislators at national and provincial levels to get involved in promoting HRD within especially townships;

7. Ex-parliamentarians should be effectively deployed to support local community institutions, particularly schools and other training bodies; 

8. We must target sectors such as Judiciary, Media and Economy.

5. LOCAL GOVERNMENT TRANSFORMATION AND ELECTIONS

Transformation objectives

1. To effectively implement the new system of local government which plays a key role in the fight against poverty; guarantees equity in municipal service provision and actively promotes social, economic and spatial integration. This is part of our overall objectives of transforming the state, deepening democracy and meeting basic needs.

2. To ensure greater co-ordination between local, provincial and national government to significantly improve service delivery and development.

3. To use the transformation, elections and new system to mobilise the masses and strengthen the structures of the ANC, Tripartite Alliance, MDM and progressive civil society.

4. To reconcile the system of traditional leadership with democratic local government.

Within this context, our aims therefore are:

5. To ensure that the new municipalities are financial viable and appropriately restructure the local government finance system to effect this.

6. To ensure that the new municipalities are significantly strengthened administratively.

7. To ensure that municipalities effectively integrate public participation, IDPs, performance management and service delivery.

8. To ensure that there is an integrated programme of municipal service delivery, especially of the trading services (electricity, water, sanitation etc).

9. To ensure that the district councils are powerful and contribute to the development of the rural masses.

10. To ensure that women play a more significant role in local government.

11. To provide democratic and accountable government for local communities.

12. Promote safe and healthy environment.

13. To encourage the involvement of communities in the matters of local government, thus promoting participation.

The further development of a restructured sphere of local government throughout our country entails:

14. Ensuring clarity on the functions and powers assigned to municipal governance;

15. programmes of cooperative governance ensuring that financial, administrative and other developmental capacity is put in place in the new municipalities;

16. the restructuring of service delivery (particularly electricity, water, sanitation and infrastructural investment) to meet the challenges facing developmental local government;

17. developing Integrated Development Plans which ensure viable and sustainable development in our municipalities; and

18. aligning government’s service delivery areas with the new municipal boundaries.

Challenges

1. Local Government remains the weakest partner in government relationship, impacting on the delivery of quality services to communities.

2. The revenue sharing arrangement between cities and other townships in order to make sure that over time we stabilise the fiscal base.

3. Poverty reduction programmes.

4. The reduction of municipalities from 843 to 284.

5. Selection of candidates.

6. The capacity at local level to build partnerships.

7. To win the coming local government elections.

Programmatic tasks

Branches and Regions

• Active involvement of the ANC and Alliance branches in local governance issues.
• Mobilising communities around local development issues.
• Intensification of voter education on the role and importance of local government and of democratic transformation process at this level.
• Awareness on the demarcation process.
• Voter registration campaigns
• Voter mobilization to ensure a high – voter turn out.
• Discourage factionalism, in-fighting and gate keeping in local structures.
• Active involvement of Alliance branches and locals in the restructuring process.
• Monitoring of the stripping of assets, appointments and promotions of staff in the process of establishing new municipalities.
• Branches must lead the way in ensuring that wherever ward committees are established, they contribute to participatory governance and economic and social development.
• The Integrated development programmes should include programmes targeting youth, women and the disabled, and consideration should be given to the creation of Local Youth Development Units.
• The new municipalities should play an active role in the HIV/AIDS campaign.

PEC and NEC

• The ANC must give careful consideration to the circumstances in which executive mayor system is more appropriate than executive committees. Where executive mayors are decided upon, decisions on the composition of the mayoral committees must be made collectively by ANC structures and the principles of collective accountability should prevail.
• Alliance structures at national level should discuss and reach consensus on a common approach to restructuring municipal services.
• The ANC must ensure that we contribute towards eradicating the urban-rural divide.
• We must ensure that organised local government becomes an integral part of the provincial legislative and governance programmes.
• Engagements on the role of traditional leadership and institutions of local government should be encouraged. Through the new system of local government, traditional leaders should be encouraged to play an active role in service delivery and development, especially in rural areas. The ANC should further consider what should be the appropriate extent of representation of traditional leaders on municipal councils. The process of finalising policy and legislation on the basis of “The Draft Discussion Document Towards a White Paper on Traditional Leadership and Institutions” be intensified.
• Develop a comprehensive programme to ensure that resources required for municipal development are found and are equitably and efficiently utilised. National and provincial government must ensure a system of life-line tariffs, to ensure access for all to basic services such as water, renewable energy and sanitation.
• To mandate the Secretary General’s Office to urgently organise workshops in all the regional structures of the ANC to develop programs of action around restructuring, service delivery and the election campaign.
• To mandate the Secretary General’s office to provide guidelines on implementation of the Mafikeng resolution on aligning of our structures with new municipal boundaries.
• Organize education, training and capacity building programmes for all our local candidates and ongoing support programmes for councilors.

Our local elections campaign

To ensure a resounding victory in local government elections, we must: –

• Ensure that our list process result in the selection of the best candidates; balancing skills, popularity and effective leadership, ensuring that the 50% gender balance is achieve, especially in the selection of our ward councilors. All ANC candidates must be caring representatives who conform to the ANC’s code of conduct and discipline.
• The transformation programmes must determine the content of our campaign.
• Participation by voters in the elections must be prioritized not only to ensure a resounding victory for the ANC but also to lay the basis for participatory local governance. Voter outreach programmes to ensure registration levels are high must be conducted by all structures of the ANC and its allies.
• Broadening the support base of the ANC at a local level through engaging with all sectors of society who can contribute to developmental local government.
• Ensure a co-ordinated campaign with effective communication, especially with branches as the basic campaign units.
• Strengthening organized local government.

6. PEACE AND STABILITY

Challenges

The legacy of South Africa’s violent and oppressive past has left us with great challenges in achieving peace and stability:-

1. We inherited a violent society, characterised by repressive and discriminatory security forces, high levels of crime, and family violence. Resources for policing were heavily concentrated on a minority, leaving the majority of the country without adequate services. The defense forces were oriented toward the military defense of the apartheid state both inside and outside South Africa;

2. With the transition to democracy, political murders dropped rapidly, but criminal violence initially rose alarmingly. It has gradually declined since then, but still remains far too high;

3. The hardest hit by crime and violence are the poor, especially women;

4. International and local crime syndicates have taken advantage of our new freedoms to expand their activities.

5. Continued poverty and alienation and the conflict over markets and resources are some of the critical causes of crime and violence. The easy accessibility of guns and long-standing histories of violence in many communities, compounded by high levels of abuse of alcohol and other drugs, add to the problem. Action by the security services can only help resolve some manifestations; they do not provide the ultimate solution.

6. The security services are not yet fully representative, imbued with the ideals of the democratic Constitution or adequately skilled. Members of the security forces often complain that senior and middle management has not adjusted adequately to serving a democratic government in a multi-diversity environment and remains unrepresentative.

7. Largely because of backlogs in infrastructure and skills inherited from the apartheid past, resources are still not fully equalized between communities.

8. The programme of rationalising (downsizing) of the SANDF has still not commenced.

9. The prisons are heavily overcrowded.

Progress

The democratic government has adopted resolute measures to support peace and stability, amongst others:

1. The government’s support, and in appropriate circumstances, even the participation of the SANDF, in peacekeeping efforts.

2. Various legislative and administrative measures to appropriately equip government structures to deepen and strengthen the processes supporting and promoting peace and stability;

3. We have taken important steps towards the transformation of the Criminal Justice System, comprising policing, intelligence, corrections, justice, and welfare. We have also established a strong, single prosecution service and the Scorpions;

4. Almost 60 per cent of the security services are now African, although only 12 per cent are women; 23 per cent are white men;

5. The information flows between the different components of the criminal justice system have been substantially improved;

6. The training programmes of the security services have been re-oriented to align with the democratic system and improve competencies;

7. Cabinet is preparing to submit a Defense Bill to Parliament. The defense forces have succeeded in integrating the different forces from the past, and vastly improved representivity in senior levels. They have begun to procure replacements for obsolete equipment, as indicated by the Defense Review;

8. Various measures, especially the formation of Community Police Forums, have helped to strengthen the relations between the security services and communities;

9. The government has introduced a rigorous gun control bill to reduce access to guns by criminals; and

10. Various programmes to link crime and violence and the social causes thereof, including:

• pilot projects in urban, poor, high-crime areas;
• work with Education and the National Youth Commission to address youth crime and victimization;
• co-operation with Health as part of a broad multi-departmental strategy to ensure adequate care for rape victims and effective prosecution of their attackers.

Our strategic approach

The 50th Congress adopted a policy framework on peace and stability with the following major elements:

1. The twin principles of peace and stability are important and indispensable prerequisites for achieving the strategic objective of the NDR, and consequently the inclusion of the principles of peace and stability as the fifth pillar of the RDP;

2. A paradigm shift in respect of the notion of security from one chiefly concerned with the security of the state and the military dimension of security to an approach that emphasizes the security of the people and the non-military dimensions of security; and

3. Pursuing and implementing a comprehensive, integrated and holistic approach to the question of peace, stability and security, which includes and reflects local, regional, continental and international dimensions.

4. The 50th Congress also adopted an all encompassing approach to the transformation of all the departments in the peace and stability cluster -that is, Safety and Security, Correctional Services, Justice, Defense and the intelligence services.

The Commissions concluded that the policy framework and approaches adopted by the peace and stability cluster at the 50th Congress provide an effective and appropriate policy framework, within which, broadly, this cluster can achieve and sustain our transformation and strategic objectives. We should therefore

• Do an audit of the progress in fulfilling the resolutions of the 50th Congress is therefore necessary.
• Build the capabilities of the departments in the cluster to carry out their national and international tasks.

The commission believes that our struggle for economic and political transformation will ultimately minimize the basis for crime and violence by enhancing social integration, improving equality and equity, raising living standards and employment, and ensuring the dignity of individuals. But crime and violence also aggravate poverty, both by oppressing individuals and by undermining economic and social development. For this reason, we need to ensure an integrated approach to development that includes an emphasis on achieving peace and stability in our communities, our country and our region. Central strategies to achieve this end include:

• An integrated and holistic approach to crime prevention and poverty alleviation;
• The improvement of the service and working conditions of personnel in the security services;
• Improvements in service delivery by the criminal justice system;
• Improved and re-oriented training programmes for the security services; · Public-private partnerships;
• The establishment of a system of investigations that is led by the prosecution services and driven by intelligence;
• More effective border control; and
• To reduce the burden on Correctional Services, alternative containment mechanisms and a reduction in the prison population awaiting trial.
• In the defense force, transformation must continue to ensure full representativity, in the context of rationalization and with the full implementation of the civic education programme.

Programmatic tasks

1. By the end of October 2000, the Ministers in the peace and stability cluster must provide a report to the NEC on progress in implementing the resolutions of the 50th Congress. Thereafter the NEC must develop a programme of action to ensure the appropriate and expeditious implementation of those resolutions that require further attention.

2. The relevant Ministers responsible for the matters listed below must table full reports with recommendations, after thorough research, to the NEC, as a matter of utmost urgency, but by no later than the end of October 2000, namely:

• The Service Corps of the SANDF;
• Commando Units and Part-Time Forces;
• The VIP Unit of the SAPS;
• A language of record for use in our Judicial System;
• Legislation regulating the private security industry; and
• The introduction of elements of civil participation to deal with certain administrative functions of the SAPS.

3. The ANC must establish, revise and maintain structures to allow for regular, expeditious and sustained coordination, implementation and development of policy by all relevant role-players in the movement, including the NEC sub-committee on peace and stability, as well as the relevant ANC Parliamentary study groups at national and provincial level. In this regard it is strongly recommended that the NEC subcommittee on Peace and Stability be restructured to once again make it a functional and vibrant structure, having particular regard to its composition.

4. Through appropriate structures, the ANC must, before the end of the year 2000, initiate an inclusive discussion and revision of the budgets of all departments in the peace and stability cluster, including the service and working conditions of personnel in the security services, in order to provide and maintain adequate and appropriate service delivery within the whole cluster; and to re-prioritise, re-align and redirect the programmes, projects and activities of these departments to reflect ANC policy as soon as possible.

5. The relevant Ministers must initiate an investigation into the viability and desirability of the continued unionization of members of the security services and the introduction of a system of national service.

6. Government generally must strengthen social crime prevention by fully integrating the struggle against crime and violence with the struggle to transform the economy and the society. It must continue to have zero tolerance for organised crime, corruption and taxi and family violence.

7. Racial and gender discrimination within the criminal justice system must be eliminated as rapidly as possible:

• Efforts to ensure racial and gender representativity of the senior and middle management in all departments must be accelerated, with the development of realistic medium-term targets; and
• Complaints systems must ensure a strong and rapid response to complaints of racial or gender discrimination from either the public or employees.

8. Human-resource development must ensure an accessible, efficient, professional and user-friendly system. Critical aspects include:

• Improving technical training;
• Training in working in democratic, multi-diversity communities;
• For middle management, for instance station commanders, training in labour relations and human-resource management;
• Accelerated training for members from previously disadvantaged communities and for women; and
• Review of the criteria for the appointment and promotion of personnel, for example, the merit system used in the SANDF.

9. The Ministers within the cluster dealing with the criminal justice system must, as a matter of utmost urgency, devise and implement a communication strategy to engage and inform the people of South Africa (and more broadly) of their activities.

10. Closer co-operation between the intelligence services, the police, the Scorpions, customs and immigration should ensure improved investigations and prosecutions.

11. Increased attention must be paid to improving the efficiency of procedures for dealing with cross-border crime and generally improving border controls through co-operation between the relevant departments. For this purpose, too, South Africa should assist in the training of the security services from neighbouring countries.

12. The development of alternative sentencing and supervision measures, and more rapid processing of cases, is necessary to reduce the burden on the corrections system.

13. The Firearms Control Bill must be passed as soon as possible, adequately resourced, and rigorously enforced.

14. The restructuring (rationalizing) of the Department of Defense should, as far as possible, entail redeployment of members to other parts of the security system.

15. The ANC and the Alliance structures and ANC members, at all levels, must get involved in the activities and area of influence of this cluster and must develop, maintain and execute public campaigns and education programmes around these issues and activities. The ANC on the ground must be seen to be leading these programmes, campaigns and activities dealing with peace, stability and security. Some examples are:

• Violence against and the victimization and intimidation of women, and other marginalized and disadvantaged groupings, like children, farm workers and the rural poor;
• Child and forced labour;
• The new Equality Act; and
• The performance of voluntary service within the Criminal Justice System and other appropriate areas within the cluster.

7. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Transformation objectives

1. Re-affirmation & implementation of the Mafikeng resolutions

2. Promote the vision and programme of the African Renaissance and the promotion of African developmental challenges, democracy, peace

3. Reform of the multilateral organizations including the Brettonwood institutions, UN Security Council, International sporting bodies such as FIFA and IOC.

4. Building of African regional structures e.g. the establishment of the African Union (integrated Africa); reform of the OAU (OAU Charter & Abuja Treaty i.e. politics & socio-economic).

5. The transformation of the Department of Foreign Affairs, including our missions abroad

6. Promoting South/South co-operation, in addition to North/South interaction

7. The forth coming World Conference on Racism, Xenophobia & other forms of intolerance

Challenges

• Sharpen our understanding of global forces, including the role of transnational corporations & multinationals, international NGOs and the re-alignment of forces in the world.
• Build international solidarity as a component of our programme of action
• Development of a new breed of leadership with a progressive outlook to take on the challenge of the Renaissance.
• Working with African countries that could provide strategic leadership for the realization of the new vision.
• The implications of a unipolar world for global power relations and equality of nations.
• Dealing with bandit groups and formations
• Organizing other civil society forces in support of our strategy
• Co-ordination in the Alliance on international matters e.g. linkages with Communist Parties and the unions
• Need to look at the role of the media & within this to look at the role of Channel Africa

Further Challenges

• Elimination of poverty
• Socio-economic under-development of the African continent
• Free and fair trade and the need to increase FDI
• War and Conflicts on the continent
• Displaced people and refugees
• Changing negative perceptions about Africa.
• The need to address the widening digital divide through integration of the continent in the Information age and technology and improvement of telecommunication & transport, Science and technology
• Redefine relations with the developed North through the G8, the EU and other similar institutions
• Dealing with the negative impact of globalisation including its consequences on the sovereignty of states
• The diminishing resources to advance transformation in international work · The problem of Xenophobia
• The need for peace, stability and democratisation of the continent
• The need to understand the collusion of opposition parties in Africa
• Implementation of our resolution on solidarity with Polisario Front and the people of Western Sahara.

Strategic approach

1. Mobilization of international solidarity in support of the African Renaissance

2. The development of an economic development strategy for Africa including debt cancellation for HIPCs

3. Developing a refugee policy

4. Solidarity campaigns in the region e.g. with the people of Angola

5. Developing peacekeeping capacity

6. Co-ordinating international relations in government and in the movement structures.

7. Involving branches in international solidarity programmes and deepen understanding at this level of international matters.

8. Developing a programme on international issues that forms the basis of mobilization of branches on this aspect of our work

9. Convening meetings of the former liberation movements in the region to address issues facing the region

10. Containment of the proliferation of conventional weapons and small arms; and continue to advocate for a nuclear free world.

11. We should encourage the Socialist international to champion the cause of economic development of the South

Programmatic tasks

• Keeping branches informed of international matters, including international trade
• Engage progressive forces, through party to party and inter-sectoral interaction.
• Improve the capacity of the International Affairs Unit in the Presidency
• Establishment of Provincial International committees
• Liaison with parliamentarians, provincial and local government on international matters
• Regular meetings of the International Unit to monitor, direct and oversee implementation of our international programme
• Develop a policy on twinning.
• ANC should interact with NGOs and other institutions working in the terrain of international affairs.
• PECs, RECs, PGCs and RGCs should have international relations as a standing item on their agenda.
• Support the activities of the Women and Youth Leagues in this area of work.
• Encourage all Provinces to have international relations sub-committees and improve links with the International unit at HQ.
• Ensure regular media briefings on international relations.
• Build understanding of the situation in various countries and build relations with progressive parties in Africa.
• Strengthen information and research capacity on continental developments, including web site development.
• Develop people to people relations.

9. SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION COMMISSION

Transformation objectives

We reaffirm the objectives of transformation as outlined in Mafikeng. Key among these is the meeting of basic needs and the eradication of poverty. The main aim thereof is to move away from the current reality of “Two Nations” in one country – where the majority of the poor are mainly Black and lack access to basic services to a situation where the majority enjoys a decent and continuously improving standard of living. Linked to the attainment of these objectives would be the complete deracialisation of the economy, building a caring society, which is sensitive to the needs of the most vulnerable. This will lead to a new patriotism and social morality -Batho Pele.

Challenges

The lack of a well co-ordinated, communication and monitoring strategy on policy implementation by government and the organization.

• · Integrating interventions
• · Improving accountability and root out corruption in society
• · Lack of human resources and weaknesses in the implementation of the ANC deployment policy
• · The need to locate the ANC at the center of transformation processes and delivery
• · Finding a balance between macro-economic stability and the need for social investment

Government

• Bureaucratic blockages delay efficient spending
• Management and design of projects leads to skew allocation of resources
• Lack of committed and loyal public servants which results in poor quality of service
• Improve accountability and root out corruption
• The provision of a comprehensive social security system

Organs of Civil Society.

• The need to lead societal forces to realize our transformation objectives HIV & AIDS.
• This pandemic poses a very serious threat that has the potential to roll back all the advances achieved through the NDR. All the structures of the movement must commit themselves to intensify the ANC national campaign against HIV & AIDS.

Strategic Approach

• The ANC must urgently strengthen all its constitutional structures; in particular, correct the weaknesses of the NEC Committees and the Policy Coordinating Unit with emphasis on sectoral formations to ensure effective coordination of the ANC, Government Departments, Parliament/Legislature Study Groups and Local Government caucuses.
• There is an urgent need to re-orientate the civil service to meet the challenges of transformation. We have to strive for a politically conscious and accountable public service, which is also effective and efficient.
• Our Human Resources Development strategy must actively focus on the development of those skills needed to speed up social transformation, strengthening state institutions and grow our economy by setting reasonable targets. ANC branches must do an internal skills audit to document the skills profile available within our ranks.
• Local governments must be empowered and resourced to provide services to the most needy in line with our programme of poverty alleviation. High on our agenda should also be the provision of safe and affordable water for all. We need to continue to investigate basic lifeline supply of water and electricity to the poor including the possibility of cross subzidation.
• Promote integrated infrastructure development prioritization, planning and implementation of programs, especially road infrastructure in rural areas to facilitate access as well as economic development.
• Develop a strategy for funding of infrastructure by government including facilitating strategic involvement of the private sector where appropriate.
• Finalize the development of a comprehensive social security system including National Health Insurance, Unemployment Insurance Fund, Basic Income and other grants.
• Integrate our approach to poverty alleviation programmes across government and develop partnership with NGO’s, as well as greater focus on household food security
• The ANC needs to urgently provide guidelines for an indigent policy.
• The ANC at all levels together with government must urgently initiate a campaign to prevent the ongoing illegal evictions of farm workers. Such a campaign must promote security of tenure and access to land for rural communities. The ANC must broaden its approach to land redistribution beyond the willing buyer willing seller option, to include expropriation and other forms of land acquisition. The relevant institutions, particularly in the agricultural sector, must support emerging farmer initiatives and programmes.
• We need to ensure that delivery takes place in a planned and integrated manner, the need to integrate and deracialize cities and towns, to house the poor close to their place of work, to root out corruption from the system of housing delivery, to address issues around the provision of related infrastructure such as sport and recreational facilities, to give attention to rural housing and to encourage the people’s housing process. Our programmes must be aimed at building sustainable living communities.
• Accelerate the identification and allocation of state land for development of settlements to promote integration and development on well-located land including social facilities, tree planting and sports and recreational facilities

Programatic Tasks

• ANC members at branch level must participate in the governance structures such as the School Governing Bodies, Community Police Forums, Local Development Forums, Welfare Committees, Health Committees, etc. They must also ensure the implementation and monitoring of our programmes. In particular branches must be active agents to ensure the development and provision of comprehensive social security. Our focus must be the most vulnerable i.e. the elderly, women, children, the homeless and disabled · Every ANC branch must complete a community profile and a delivery audit to provide the basis for our local intervention. We should ensure that all our structures communicate our achievements, challenges and constraints.
• We need a strong ANC at a local, regional, provincial and national level with sustainable membership growth and workable programmes, and the ANC, which understands its mandate, interacts with the alliance and MDM formations and with the ability to drive programmes in government.
• Branches and constituency offices must help government implement policy and monitor delivery.
• ANC Social Transformation Committees must be replicated at all levels and coordination mechanisms set up.
• The impact of social transformation on women must be measured. There must be support for “engendering” of all policy and programmes. A special focus must be on the rural African women.
• All levels of government must, together with the Youth Commission, speed up programs of Youth development.
• The NEC must convene a National Workshop to assess both land restitution and reform.
• The NEC must ensure that concern over the Veterans’ Bill and the Special Pensions Act are re-opened and discussed by the ANC, the ANC study groups on Welfare, Finance and Defence and relevant Ministers.
• In order to mount an effective, integrated campaign and coordinated response to the HIV & Aids epidemic, the ANC and government must undertake a comprehensive evaluation of prevention and treatment strategies. Any sincere attempts and efforts by the pharmaceutical companies to meet our demands for affordable drugs are welcome. However, at current prices, it is still unaffordable to provide anti- retrovirals to those infected with HIV. Efforts to develop a safe and affordable treatment to prevent mother to child transmission should be strengthened.
• The National Development Agency must prioritize funding of projects to ensure that projects are focused on the most needy communities. In addition, the government must speed up the finalization of the criteria for the disbursement of lottery funds to needy areas

Other Issues

• Continue to refine the role of traditional leaders in social transformation.
• Need to strengthen the capacity of our members to effectively participate in the implementation of our transformation programs.
• Measures must be taken to ensure that Blacks should have access to credit. Problems arising from blacklisting need intervention.
• In the solution of the human resources problems we have to facilitate the recognition of skills acquired and promote the accreditation of those workers who acquired those skills through non-formal training and work experience.
• Specific problems caused by the policies of the previous Own Affairs Administration were raised around housing in the Coloured communities, particularly the failure to effect transfer of ownership and the scrapping of rental arrears and service charges.
• Continue to support government work on rural development and ensuring that we create mechanisms to attract investments to such areas.
• Transport network needed to support investment.
• Continue to define strategies to maximize the developmental and economic benefits of the cultural industries as well as recognizing their role in nation building
• Arts, culture, language, indigenous knowledge systems, science and technology individually and collectively have great potential to contribute to both social and economic upliftment society andion. therefore must be taken up at branch levels as a programmes for social transformat