July 2002 NEC Bulletin
P ROD UCED B Y T HE AF R ICAN NAT IO NAL CO NG RESS
Tasks of the African
Renaissance
THE SUCESSFUL LAUNCH of the African
Union (AU), and the adoption of the New
Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as
its programme, has highlighted the central role the
ANC and broader democratic movement needs to
play to give substance to the African Renaissance.
Revie wing the launch of the AU in Dur ban, the
ANC National Executive Committee said this historic
occasion was part of the implementation of the vision
for the African Renaissance set out by then President
Nelson Mandela in his Political Report to the 50th
National Conference in Mafikeng in 1997. T he report
spelle d out the principal aims of the African
renaissance, which formed the ba sis of the policies
adopted by Conference. T hese include:
f establishing democratic political systems, which
protect human rights and address the competing
interests of different social groups;
f establishing institutions and procedures which wo uld
enable the continent collectively to deal with questions
of democracy, peace and stability;
f achieving sustainable economic development wh ich
results in the continuous improvement of the standards
of living and the quality of life of the masse s of the
people;
f qua litatively changing Africa's place in the world
economy, removing its debt burden and ending its role
merely as a supplier of raw materials and an importer of
food and manufactured goods;
f rediscovering Africa's creative past to recapture the
peoples' cultures, encourage artistic creativity and
restore popular involvement in science and technology;
f advancing in practical ways the objective of African
Unity;
f strengthening the genuine independence of African
countries and the continent in our relations with the
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The NEC held a meeting from
12-14 July 2002, which focused on the challenges
of the African Renaissance, and preparations for
the ANC National Policy Conference and
51st National Conference.
major powers, and enhancing our collective role in the
determination of the global system of governance in all
fields, including politics, the economy, security,
information and intellectual property, the environment
and science and technology.
This approach to the African renaissance formed
part of the ANC’s 1999 elections manifesto, which
presented a programme to the electorate for realising
these aims. This programme has made tangible gains in
the form of the African Union and NEPAD.
These gains present significant challenges to the
ANC as a progressive African movement and to South
Africa, as the first Chair of the African Union. The
NEC reflected on these challenges, which include the
role we should play in the lea dership organs of the AU
such as the Assembly, the Executive Council of
Ministers and to operationalise the various other
structures of the AU.
At a programmatic level, it is necessary to take
forward the various priority areas identified in NEPAD.
This includes decisive progress on peace and security in
various conflicts, includin g those affecting the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Madagascar,
Sudan and Western Sahara. It includes work on the
programmes for economic and social development;
mechanisms to promote good governance and
democracy such as the Peer Review Mechanism; and
strengthening the African Commission on Human and
People’s Rights. The involvement of the people’s of
Africa, the various organs of civil society and the
mobilisation of the progressive forces on the continent
will be an important part of these priorities.
For our vision of an African renaissance to
succeed, the NEC agreed that So uth Africa and our
movement must pay serious attention to improving our
capacity to fulfill these obligations. South Africa, said
President Mbeki, is in a unique position to make a
major contribution to this process, given our own
unfolding national project to deepen democracy and
people’s power and to ensure a better life for all South
Africa’s people.
An electoral system for South Africa
THE ANC WILL BE PROPOSING to the South
African Electoral Task Team, chaired by Frederick van
Zyl Slabbert, that the current proportional
representation electoral system should be retained as the
option which, in the South African context, best reflects
the will of the people, encourages inclusivity and
political stability, and promotes public accountability.
The task team has been established by government
to investigate alternative electoral systems for the
country. It is expected to consider a range of options
and submissions before making a recommendation to
government later in the year.
Considering the ANC’s submission, the NEC
agreed that the current proportional representation (PR)
system was best suite d to the challenges of nation-
building, deepening democracy and social and
economic development in South Africa.
OBITUARIES
The NEC noted with sadness the untimely deaths of a
number of comrades since the last meeting. These
included NEC members Stev e Tshwete, who passed
away on 26 April and Peter Mokaba, who passed away
on 9 June. The meeting paid tribute to the contribution
they had each made over se ve ral years to the
organisation and to their work as National Executive
Committee members.
Hambani Kahle Maqhawe Namaqhawekazi! Your Revolutionary Spir it Lives With Us!
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Some of the immediate task of ANC and Alliance
structures therefore include:
f effectively communicating and popularising the aims
and priorities of the African Union and NEPAD;
f mobilising communities, organ s of civil society and
other social sectors behind the vision of an African
Renaissance;
f working actively with partners across the continent
and the world in support of the AU and NEPAD;
f implementing the resolutions of the Mafikeng
Conference;
f holding discussions within the ANC, Alliance and
democratic movement on the content and programme
of the AU and NEPAD.
The NEC considered a discussion document which
measured a number of possible electoral systems
against criteria such as whether it:
f reflects the democratically expressed will of the
people,
f contributes to political stability and peace,
f encourages voters to feel effectively represented by
parliamentarians,
f is practical and implementable.
Among the options considered wa s a straight PR
system, a constituency-based system and a mixed PR-
constituency system – as well as variations on each of
these.
The NEC agreed to synthesise these disc ussions
into an accessible form, which can be distributed and
discussed in ANC structures and more broadly.
The NEC also noted the passing of comrades
Beryl Baker, a former PA to President Mandela; Rusty
Bernstein, a former treason trialist; Peter Magano, a
Member of the North We st legislature; Peter Mthembu,
a member of the Luthuli Detachment; Curnick Ndlov u,
a veteran unionist and ANC leader; Maria Rantho, a
former MP and member of the Public Service
Commission; and Sibusiso Zuma, an ANC Youth
League NEC member.
51st National Conference: People’s Power in Action
THE NEC MEETING DISCUSSED preparations for
the ANC’s 51st National Conference, which will be held
in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape from 16-20
December 2002. T he NEC examined the policy
decisions a dopted at the 50th National Conference in
1997 and the National General Co uncil (NGC) in 2000
to assess the correctness of these positions.
The NEC took the vie w that the essential pillars of
our policy as decided by the 1997 and 2000 conferences
remain valid and correct. It also agreed that there may
be a few areas that might require some ne w policy
initiatives. Nevertheless, these wo uld not alter the
direction set by these previous conferences.
Ho wever, we must continue with our preparations
to hold a National Policy Conference in Se ptember.
Through our branches, the membership has been aske d
to make its own determination on policy matters.
Delegates representing the views of this membership
will therefore gather at the Policy Conference to effect
changes that may be necessary.
An important feature of the ANC over time has
been the stability of its policy positions. T his derives
from an unswerving commitment to the vision of South
Africa. Whatever the detail in the policy, the orientation
has remained the same – the creation of a united,
democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South
Africa.
One of the themes of the Conference will therefore
be People’s Powe r in Action. T hrough struggle, today
we have an entrenched democracy in our country, with
governments at all levels freely chosen by the people.
Continuously we are making all efforts to organise and
mobilise our people so that they participate in the
process of governance. We want the vision realised as
comprehensively, that the people shall govern.
Given that we have now established the firm policy
base we need to guide the transformation process, and
given that we also have the democratic instruments and
institutions to implement these policies, it is correct that
our 51st National Conference should indeed position
itself a s a conference dedicated to the objective of
action to speed up change that is people-centred and
people-driven.
Conference will also emphasise the message of
Phambili Mavoluntiya. It must build on our efforts to
involve communities in their own development – in the
spirit of the letsema campaign. It must further define
the tasks of the New Cadre wh ich we spoke about at the
NGC, a volunteer ready to work selflessly for the cause
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of the people. By the end of Conference these
volunteers who constitute the very backbone of our
movement must have a clear view of what their tasks
are as they directly engage the challenge for accelerated
change.
Another theme of Conference will be that of
Afrika ke nako,which we chose for the year of our
90th anniversary. It refers to the challenges we face as
we take up leadership of the African Union to ensure
that our vision of the African Renaissance, ela borated at
the 1997 Conference is be in g put into action. As we
accelerate change in South Africa so too must we play a
leading role in bringing about change on the continent.
As the first National Conference of the ANC in the
African Century, this conference must set a programme
which will enable us to qualitatively take forward this
task.
In the democratic traditions of the ANC and the
Congress movement, a process will unfold to ensure
thorough discussions, involving all our structures. T his
process will include :
Discussion papers in a special e dition of Umrabulo
at the beginning of August 2002, which will focus on
our Strategy and T actics and our programme to
transform South Africa in the areas of state and
governance, economic and social transformation, peace
and security, as well as the tasks facing us on the
African continent and in the world.
At least 53 workshops in all re gions during August
and September, involving more than 10,000 members.
A National Policy Conference in September to
develop draft resolutions on policy matters for National
Conference.
Branch General meetings in the more than 2000
ward- based branches, with all ANC members to elect
their delegates to Conference, develop mandates on the
different issues for disc ussion and to discuss
nominations for the NEC from August to November.
Nine Provincial General Councils during October
to November 2002 with all elected delegates to
conference to finalise mandates on these various
matters and to conclude nominations for the NEC.
The 51st National Conference will brin g together
3,400 voting dele gates, of which 90 percent will be
branch delegates. A further 500 delegates will come
from the Alliance and fraternal organisations, and about
100 international observers will attend from
organisations on the continent as well as other regions
of the world.
Re-alignment process nearing completion
SIGNIFICANT PRO GRESS has been made in re-
alignment in Mpumalanga, North West, Free State and
KwaZulu Natal since the last NEC meeting. The
process has been slo wer in the Eastern Cape and
Limpopo. Both Mpumalanga and North West have held
their provincial conferences. Free State is due to hold
its conference later in July, and KwaZulu Natal in the
third we ek of August.
To address problems with re-alignment, some
Officials were deployed to a ssist some of the provinces.
The Deputy President was deployed to North West,
National Chairperson to Limpopo, Secretary General to
Eastern Cape and Deputy Secretary General to Free
State.
f Mpumalanga: The Provincial Conference took place
over the we ekend of 23-24 March 2002, and a ne w PEC
was elected. T he Political Report looked at governance
issues, while the Organisational Report covered the
political tribunal, NEC interventions and the work of
OT T. It was agreed there should be a Provincial
General Council (PGC) before the end of two months.
It wa s also agree d that steps be taken to implement all
the outstanding decisions arising from the different
interventions in the province.
f North We st: T he province held its Conference from
13-15 June at the Rustenburg Civic Centre. The
Conference wa s generally successful, and included
elections for the new PEC. However, a number of
observations were made by the NEC deployees and HQ
task team around administrative problems and clear
political divisions. It wa s recommended that the
induction of the incoming PEC focus on building unity
at all levels in the organisation. It was also
recommended that the SG convene a meeting of all staff
f NEXT NEC MEETING: 16-18 AUGUST 2002
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in the province together with the PEC and NEC
deployees to address the tensions that exist between
staff and the political leadership with a vie w to
developing a harmonious working environment at an
operational level in the province.
f Limpopo: A meeting took place in April between the
Interim Leadership Core (ILC) , NEC Deployees and
the National Chairperson to address the realignment
process. T he first audits of branches in the province
took place in May, and since then the audit team has
been to the province twice. T he province had a PGC on
6 July that also assesse d the realignment process and
decided on action to speed up the process.
f Easte rn Cape : At the request of the NWC, the
Secretary General convened a meeting of Eastern Cape,
Western Cape and Ga uteng deployees on 23 June to
assess the pace of re-alignment in the province and
strengthen the NEC committee with deployees from the
other two provinces.
A meeting of all RT T coordinators took place at the
provincial office at wh ich the national team outlined
once more in detail the guideline s used in the auditing
process. National audits have taken place in the Chris
Hani, Nelson Mandela Metro and Alfred Nzo regions.
These audits show positive progress and highlight the
value of ‘pre-audits’ by the province itself.
f Fre e State: All regions in the Free State have held
regional conferences. The Provincial Conference is
scheduled to take place from 26-28 July. A national
Organising Task Team is still deployed in the province.
f KwaZulu Natal: All but two regions, Greater
Msinga and Far North, have been to regional
conference. The provincial conference is scheduled to
take place from 23-25 August.