ADDRESS BY PREMIER
Comrades,
We met again as members of the African National Congress to assess progress we have made since we last met a few weeks ago.
Meeting in the name of the millions of our people who have put their trust in the ANC. We meet as delegates mandated to improve the lives of our people. That is why I am going to appeal to all of us here today to protect and guard the precious legacy of the ANC.
To defend its unity and integrity as committed disciples of change. But above all we need to pursue its popular objectives like true revolutionaries who seek only to serve the nation.
These demands are placed on us because we accepted the burden of responsibility when we decided to enter the ranks of this leading movement of fundamental change. We are part of that leadership corps that responded to the call of destiny to bring into reality the day when the people can indeed govern.
Comrades, our central mission as the ANC remains the creation of a democratic, non-racial, non-sexists and prosperous South Africa.
Substantive progress has been made towards the achievement of this goal. We have put in place a legislature, policy and institutional framework for the deracialisation of all aspects of our society, the eradication of gender discrimination and the empowerment of women, for eth building of a better life and for true equality and human dignity for all.
We are indeed making progress with our program to eradicate the inequalities of apartheid through the provision of access to basic services, the development of infrastructure, redirecting the budget, distributive policies and policies aimed at a growing economy.
However, given the massive social and economic backlog arising from this legacy, we need to intensify our struggle, in areas such as the eradication of poverty. We have intensify the struggle for job creation and the reduction of unemployment.
After all our program to create a democratic, non-racial, non-sexiest and prosperous society is central to the restoration of human dignity, peace and security for all in a South Africa that truly belongs to all of us – black an white as set out in the Freedom Charter.
As the ANC, working with other formations, we must ensure that our people are lifted above the levels of poverty. That is why I am again appealing to comrades to, as a matter of urgency, assist local government in identifying opportunities of economic development and job creation in their areas.
Bring these opportunities to the attention of the local authorities and working together with the people let us lift everyone above the levels of poverty.
I believe this will be easy given the fact that we have gone a long way in aligning our branches and regions with the present municipal boundaries where possible and feasible.
I am informed by the Regional Task Teams that co-ordination is on course and that the boundaries of most of our structures correspond with those of government.
It is the task of the ANC to continuously engage in robust debate with media institutions, civil society, business people and intelligentsia regarding our vision and programme and to win over significant sections of these institutions to the values of a non-racial and non-sexiest democracy. These we must do as a united force and in alliance with our partners.
Comrades, effectiveness and regular meetings of the alliance structures and ongoing bilateral engagements with COSATU and the SACP will lend strength to our efforts for all joint strategy in all we do. To understand the alliance is to understand the ANC itself. The ANC is not just another political party, alongside the NP, the IFP, or the DP.
The founders of the ANC described it as “a parliament of the people”. Many things have changed since 1912, but the tradition of the ANC as a people's parliament is, we believe, still powerfully relevant.
Our alliance with the South African Communist Party is a relationship cemented in the trenches of our struggle against Apartheid colonialism.
This Alliance has manifested itself in its organizational form over the years in the practice of dual membership between the ANC and the SACP, with communists often being seen as amongst the most dedicated and committed in working to strengthen the liberation movement.
As the late comrade OR Tambo said: “The relationship between the ANC and the SACP is not an accident of history, nor is it a natural or inevitable development.
For, as we can see, similar relationships have not emerged in the course of liberation struggles in other parts of Africa… Ours is (therefore) not a paper alliance, created at conference tables and formalized through the signing of documents and representing only an agreement of leadership.
Our alliance is a living organism that has grown out of struggle. We have built it out of our separate and common experiences.”
Comrades, ours is a dynamic a dynamic alliance with a long history, and is here to stay. We must admit that there are difficulties facing the Revolutionary Alliance.
These difficulties have expressed themselves over the last period around macro economic policy, around strategic questions such as the transformation of the public service and the role of public service unions.
While we might have our differences we must always remember that the alliance is not an invention, nor an arrangement that stands or falls on the basis of “good feelings”.
The alliance is rooted in the realities of South Africa – a country in which the legacy of racial oppression continues to be the defining feature of our society. But it is also a society in which the working class, uniquely for Africa, is numerically and overwhelmingly dominate.
It is not surprising that, for over seventy years, an alliance has been forged that involves a broad-based national liberation movement, a party of socialism, and the revolutionary trade union movement.
The challenges facing us in South Africa require a powerful strategic unity of these alliance forces – now, more than ever.
The ANC alliance with the SACP and COSATU remains united around the broad strategic objectives of the National Democratic Revolution.
The creation of a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa has always formed the principled basis of this revolutionary alliance. Our alliance has always been charaterised by the existence of robust debate around political and tactical questions.
The challenges of the post 1994 period have manifested themselves in a number of political tactical differences within the alliance.
In recognition of the above, there is a need to redouble our determination to ensure ongoing communication and engagement on ideological and political questions between the alliance partners, and review the operation of current structural arrangements.
Let us redouble our efforts at tomorrow's 10-aside to find a common approach to our tactical differences while remaining focused on our quest for the creation of a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa.
I thank you.