Media Statement

The Secretary General of the African National Congress, Comrade Fikile Mbalula, will lead the organisa,on’s participation in a meeting of Secretaries General of Six Libera$on Movements of Southern Africa aimed at developing joint programmes of poli8cal educa&on and ideological training for impac2ul poli&cal, socio-economic and cultural development.

The Secretary General will be accompanied by the First Deputy Secretary General, Comrade Nomvula Mokonyane and three NEC Members, Comrade David Makhura in his capacity as Principal of the ANC’s OR Tambo Poli:cal School, Comrade Khusela Diko and Comrade Nobuhle Nkabane, to a*end Annual mee0ng of the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School (MJNLS) in Kibaha in the United Republic of Tanzania from the 23 to the 25 January 2024.

The MJNLS is a landmark project of coopera9on among six sister par9es of the Libera”on Movements of Southern Africa. The partners are the African Na7onal Congress (ANC) of South Africa, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) of Tanzania, South West Africa Peoples’ Organisa(on (SWAPO) of Namibia, Front for the Libera(on of Mozambique (FRELIMO) of Mozambique, Popular Movement for the Libera7on of Angola (MPLA) of Angola and the Zimbabwe African Na/onal Union-Patriot Front (ZANU-PF) of Zimbabwe.

Launched in 2022, with the support of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the school aims to be an interna&onal centre of excellence for Na&onalist and Pan-African Leadership.

Since its establishment, the Leadership School has delivered tailored online and face-to- face training sessions and cadre workshops to more than 1405 par7cipants and

concluded memoranda of understanding for strategic alliances and partnerships with various interna,onal ins,tu,ons. ANC members, including young people, have also undergone training at the School over the past two years.

The mee&ng of the Secretaries General of the Six Sister Par.es is expected to deliberate on amongst others, the shared purpose of strengthening the par2es, joint programmes of ideological training for impac0ul, sustainable, poli5cal, socio-economic and cultural development as well as the transfer – from ZANU-PF to the ANC – of the Chairpersonship of Libera*on Movements.

This transi*on will take place in a year in which South Africa is celebra*ng 30 years of freedom brought about by the ANC-led libera)on struggle against colonialism and apartheid; a struggle in whose success regional solidarity played a cri4cal role. It is a year that will also see the democra/c project that began 30 years ago being consolidated through the Na+onal and Provincial Elec+ons.