ANC Statements

The ANC under the theme: “The Year of Decisive Action to Advance the People’s Interests and Renew Our Movement” has declared in its January 8th Statement that September will be the month of mass popular engagement to provide public accountability for the past four years, and how government has advanced their interests.

The African National Congress (ANC) will launch a comprehensive review of its 2019 Elections Manifesto

implementation on the 2nd of September 2023 at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto. The historic manifesto review will be addressed by the President, Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa, who will outline on how far we have come since 2019.

The 2019 Elections Manifesto Review will be conducted against the backdrop of an observation that we are on a cusp of hope and renewal.

• This moment in our history is an opportunity to turn from practices that undermined the integrity of our democratic institutions and the potential for higher rates of economic growth and development.
• Over twenty-five years, South Africa has improved the lives of the majority of the people.
• Much of the momentum of change was sustained during last ten years, though we could have moved faster, and the quality of services could have been much better.
• Regrettably, there were also reversals in some critical areas.

Against the above observations, we have resolved to move forward on the basis of the following principles and resolutions:

• As a nation, we have learned the impact on society and economy arising from the loss of integrity in State institutions.

We have learnt hard lessons and appreciate the vigilance needed to stop creeping lawlessness, greed and selfishness taking root.

• As a party in government, the ANC should have acted faster and more decisively against tendencies inimical to the nobility of our struggle.

We could have been more decisive against forces that sought to move us from the compass of integrity which had inspired a generation whose mission was to achieve a democratic and inclusive society. We have heard the cries of millions about things that went wrong. We accept the

criticism.

Drawing from the challenges of this recent past, informed by our history of commitment to the people’s cause, we are resolved to make this an era of renewal and hope.

• The march to a better South Africa freed from the divisions of the apartheid past – an aspiration shared by all the people of our country – can now be pursued at a brisker pace. The ANC has a plan to turn things around and speed up movement towards a society that is:

united and democratic

based on equality without regard to race and gender

committed to addressing the needs of children and youth

building of a prosperous society that protects the most vulnerable.

We can all agree that the ANC government has made notable strides towards reviving the economy post the COVID-19 pandemic and building the basis to speed up growth and create economic opportunities.

The 2019 Elections Manifesto also takes place against the backdrop of the implementation of the stimulus and recovery plan that has put us on a course to improve the lives of all the people.

We have taken the decision to work with all sectors of the people and the economy. We shall renew and strengthen State institutions and move the economy towards a better life for all.

It is our view that a march to a better South Africa is unstoppable. This is underpinned by the following observations:

• The road ahead will not be easy. Renewal will sometimes pose difficulties and there will be resistance to the fight against corruption. But the march to a better South

Africa is unstoppable.

• United in our diversity we shall realise the vision ‘to improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person’.

The 2019 Elections Manifesto national event will be followed by reviews in all provinces, regions, and branches nationwide.

The 2019 Elections Manifesto Review will take place as follows:

– On the 2nd of September there will be a National Rally at the Orlando Stadium.

– On the 9th of September there will be Provincial Rallies in the provinces of the Northern Cape, North-West, Limpopo and the Free State.

– On the 16th of September there will be Provincial Rallies in the provinces of the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape and Mpumalanga.

– On the 19th of September there will be Regional Sectoral meetings throughout all the 52 regions of our country.

– This will be concluded through Voting District visits on the manifesto.

It should be recalled that the 2019 Elections Manifesto was launched under the theme: “Let’s Grow South Africa Together. A Better Life for All, “. The Manifesto saw the ANC win the majority vote to constitute a national

government and provincial governments in 8 of the 9 provinces.

The importance of this 2019 Elections Manifesto Review event is to open up a comprehensive conversation with our people on the strides as well as the challenges we have

encountered in implementing the 2019 Elections manifesto. This approach is based on our understanding that the ANC remains the parliament of the people.

This national event is the first of its kind. The NEC led by President Ramaphosa will take stock of the current term since the last elections in May 2019 and report to the people of South Africa who mandated the ANC to lead their government.

The review process will therefore afford different stakeholders and sectors of society to engage the ANC on

its actual performance concerning its commitments of the 2019 Elections Manifesto. The Review will enable a

national conversation with various constituencies on the achievements and challenges of our democracy and what needs to be done, sector by sector, community by community, towards the vision of a South Africa that belongs to all, that provides a better life for all.

The 2019 Elections Manifesto Review is about the ANC subjecting itself, in the spirit of a frank engagement to a robust and critical public scrutiny. The aim is to evaluate the extent to which we have implemented the national transformation agenda, as highlighted by the theme of the elections manifesto and the seven priorities.

This process is consistent with the organization’s culture, which places a high premium on participatory democracy and self-criticism. As we said earlier the ANC remains the true parliament of the people.

For us our Election Manifesto as a compact between the ANC and the electorate. It is our mandate as a governing party. Because of this the 2019 Elections Manifesto was translated into and implementation plan, the Medium Term Strategic Framework of government (MTSF 2019-2024).

It will be further recalled that the 2019 Elections Manifesto focused on the following 7 priority areas:

◦ An inclusive economy for all

◦ Social transformation

◦ Safer communities

◦ Capable and developmental government

◦ A diverse and inclusive nation

◦ Fighting corruption and promoting integrity

◦ A better Africa and World

The Manifesto Review will report and with a detailed commentary on these commitments in each of these 7 priority areas since 2019.

The Review account takes place in 30 years of democracy as well as the first decade of the African Union Agenda 2063. It is the halfway mark towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

We are aware that for all these national, continental, and global programmes there will be appropriate reviews, apart from this 2019 Elections Manifesto Review.

The ANC is confident that this process will enrich the content of the pledges it will make to the electorate for the 2024 national and provincial elections.

It will take into consideration the strides we have made, outstanding development backlogs as well as new

projections in terms of the current state of national, continental, and global developments.

The ANC embarks on this 2019 Elections Manifesto informed by a commitment to accelerate national transformation and ensuring that our body politic embodies the text and spirit of the Freedom Charter and our Constitution.

We want to state very clearly that we are not working towards a coalition government. We want an outright victory.

This must therefore be distinguished from our participation on the National Coalitions Dialogue in which we engaged all political parties not based on ideology, but on principles and a framework to make local government work for our people through stability and integrity.

This is after having observed that the majority of these coalitions at a local government level have been characterized by instability and poor service delivery.

Our commitment to victory in the 2024 National General Elections will come through hard work to win the trust of the people.

ON SASCO

The ANC also met with SASCO and recognized one structure as the legitimate representation of SASCO. Both groups have accepted the outcomes and the recognized structure consists of an elected national executive committee last year at the Lakes Hotel in Boksburg.

The following comrades are its leadership.

• President -Vezinhlanhla Simelane ,
• Deputy President- Julia Mtsweni
• Secretary- General – Richmond Alungile Kamtshe
• Deputy- Secretary General- Asive Dlanjwa
• Treasurer- General- Thabile Tamara-Dlamini
• National Organiser- Zandi Maseko- Tshabalala

We have decided as the ANC to only recognize the NEC confirmed by the Court of Law . This is the NEC that was elected at the Lake Hotel Congress. It is also important that the process of bringing comrades together continues. This will be led by the former SASCO leaders, ANC leadership and other PYA structures of the Mass Democratic Movement. The ANC will assist SASCO to facilitate and organize a unitary and an all-inclusive National Congress in the near future.

It was resolved that the NEC elected at the Boysens Hotel must be dissolved and comrades reintegrate themselves to structures of SASCO under the leadership of the Lake Hotel Congress until the end of the current term of office.

All of these comrades must be commended for their discipline throughout the democratic engagement and negotiations towards an amicable solution for the unity of SASCO.

From the 8th of August 2023, the recognised NEC of SASCO became officially part of the PYA and henceforth will run political programmes as per their constitutional mandate in institutions of higher learning.

Amongst the current challenges facing SASCO are those pertaining to NFSAS such as student accommodation, tuition, historical debts and various challenges as determined by the student movement.

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ISSUED BY THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

Enquiries:

Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri
ANC NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON
076 891 5420

JP Louw
ACTING NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
066 056 091