ADDRESS BY PREMIER
Comrades!
It is a great honour for me to welcome you in this official and formal capacity on the occasion of the first Ehlanzeni Regional Conference of the ANC. Many among you, and many of the branches you represent, depend on you to correctly carry-out the mandate they gave you.
Like you and the deployees from the organizing department at HQ, they played an instrumental role in realigning ANC structures with new municipal boundaries.It was hard work, and yet you rose to the occasion when your revolutionary movement called on you to act.
I am therefore pleased to take advantage of this opportunity once more to express our deep-felt gratitude to you, who represent the basic and most important unit of the ANC – the branch - for everything, you did to ensure that our mission succeeds.
On behalf of the provincial executive council I am privileged join in welcoming you all to this historic conference that has the potential and a responsibility to convey a message of hope to billions of people across the province.
We have gathered as we have, because we are united in our resolve to ensure that every human being leads a life of dignity. As we gather here today let us remember that the central mission of the ANC remains the creation of a democratic, non-racial, non-sexists and prosperous South Africa.
This mission is central to the restoration of human dignity and peace and security for all in a South Africa that truly belongs to all of us – black and white as set out in the Freedom Charter.
Our struggle has gone through many phases since those visionaries gathered in Bloemfontein in 1912. And through all these phases our people have regularly come together in this fashion to elect those they wanted to carry the torch.
Throughout they sought to elect those who were equal to the task of each phase of struggle. They also, as best as they could, tried to elect those with a desire and commitment to serve the people, and a track record appreciated by ANC members and communities alike.
Comrades, those you will elect today should unite and guide the movement to be at the head of the process of change. That is why it is important for us today to ensure that we shut the door to those who are corrupt and those who are enemies of change. We should ensure that we do not allow them to sabotage the struggle and create their own ANC.
Comrades, an ANC leader should understand ANC policy and be able to apply it under all conditions in which she or he finds herself or himself. But then there are many members of the ANC who enjoy great respect within their communities, but still have to grasp the complex matters of policy. Such individuals should be encouraged to avail themselves for leadership positions.
They should however be prepared to develop themselves and to take part in relevant training sessions.
It is a matter of principle, revolutionary democratic practice, and a constitutional requirement that, once duly elected, the leaders should be accepted by all members as leaders of the movement as a whole.
They should be assisted by all of us in their work. The leaders themselves are obliged to serve, and to listen to, all members, including those who may not have voted for them.
A leader should win the confidence of the people. Where the situation demands, the leader should be firm; and have the courage to explain and seek to convince others of the correctness of decisions taken by constitutional structures even if such decisions are unpopular.
A true leader does not seek to gain cheap popularity by avoiding difficult issues, making false promises or merely pandering to popular sentiment. A leader should lead by example and be above reproach in his or her political and social conduct - as defined by our revolutionary morality.
Through force of example, the leader should act as a role model to ANC members and non-members alike. There are no ready-made leaders. Leaders evolve out of battles for social transformation.
In these battles, cadres will stumble and some will fall. But the abiding quality of leadership is to learn from mistakes, to appreciate one's weaknesses and correct them.
An individual with qualities of leadership does not seek to gain popularity by undermining those in positions of responsibility. A leader should constantly seek to improve his capacity to serve the people; he or she should strive to be in touch with the people all the time, listen to their views and learn from them.
He should be accessible and flexible; and not arrogate to himself the status of being the source of all wisdom. But then Comrades, the struggle for social transformation is a complex undertaking in which at times, personal interests will conflict with the organisational interest.
From time to time, conflict will manifest itself between and among members and leaders. The ultimate test of leadership includes:
- Striving for convergence between personal interests – material, status and otherwise – and the collective interest;
- Handling conflict in the course of ANC work by understanding its true origins and seeking to resolve it in the context of struggle and in the interest of the ANC;
- The ability to inspire people in good times and bad; to reinforce members' and society's confidence in the ANC and transformation; and
- Winning genuine acceptance by the membership, not through suppression, threats or patronage, but by being principled, firm, humble and considerate.
Allow me to paraphrase former President Nelson Mandela:
Let us not gamble by placing at the head of our revolutionary march, a cadre of leaders which would be unable correctly to handle the complex issues of social development.
We are confident that you will discharge your responsibilities with the same revolutionary commitment and sense of responsibility to our province and people which all previous conferences of our movement have demonstrated throughout the eighty-nine years of the life of the ANC.
Amandla.