ADDRESS BY PREMIER
Comrades!
Allow me, first and foremost, to extend my appreciation for having invited me to this auspicious occasion.
Comrades, we meet here bound by our genuine respect and love for our country.
Inheriting the legacy of a great party, the African National Congress, which is the best hope for redirecting our nation on a more humane, just and peaceful course.
My right and my privilege to stand here before you has been won, won in my lifetime, by the blood and the sweat of the innocent.
Victor Khayiyana, Portia Shabangu, Sithuli Hleza, Nokuthula Simelane, Thomas Mahlangu and many others. Many lives were lost in the streets, in the trenches so that we can have a right to live.
Today those heroes of our struggle must feel good as they look down upon us gathering here today. As a testament to the struggles of those who have gone before; As a legacy for those who will come after; As a tribute to the endurance, the patience, the courage of our forefathers and mothers;
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.
A mission that 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 an unsatiable desire and commitment to serve the people, and a track record appreciated by ANC members and communities alike.
Comrades, those in leadership positions should unite and guide the movement to be at the head of the process of change. They should lead the movement in its mission to organise and inspire the masses to be their own liberators. That is why it is important for us today to ensure that we shut the door to those who are corrupt individuals and those who are enemies of change.
We should ensure that we do not allow them to the movement's internal democracy to sabotage the struggle and create their own ANC.
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.
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 at the relevant level.
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.
The most important message of these guidelines is that you, the member, should be empowered to take an active and informed part in choosing leadership at various levels; or to stand for any position for which you believe you are suitable.
The guidelines should help you ask the right questions when approached, and to make contributions of quality when the matter arises in branch and other meetings.
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.
A leader should seek to influence and to be influenced by others in the collective. 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.
Comrades, because leadership in structures of the ANC affords opportunities to assume positions of authority in government, some individuals then compete for ANC leadership positions in order to get into government.
Many such members view positions in government as a source of material riches for themselves. Thus resources, prestige and authority of government positions become the driving force in competition for leadership positions in the ANC.
Government positions also go hand-in-hand with the possibility to issue contracts to commercial companies. Some of these companies identify ANC members that they can promote in ANC structures and into government, so that they can get contracts by hook or by crook.
This is done through media networks to discredit other leaders, or even by buying membership cards to set up branches that are ANC only in name.
Positions in government also mean the possibility to appoint individuals in all kinds of capacities. As such, some members make promises to friends, that once elected and ensconced in government, they would return the favour.
Cliques and factions then emerge within the movement, around personal loyalties driven by corrupt intentions. Members become voting fodder to serve individuals' self-interest.
You may ask whether this then rule out the possibility of individuals lobbying for their own election into positions of leadership, or others doing so on their behalf?
Members are not discouraged from canvassing for those they support. And, technically, an individual is not prohibited from canvassing for him-/herself. But it is a matter of profound cultural practice within the ANC that individuals do not promote or canvass for themselves. Historically, this has justifiably been frowned upon as being in bad revolutionary taste.
One of the main reasons for this is that when cadres of the movement do their work, this is not meant to be with an eye on leadership positions or some other personal reward; but to serve the people.
When cadres are not in formal leadership positions, they should not will others to fail, but assist everyone in the interest of fundamental change.
Having said that I am confident that you will discharge your responsibilities with the same revolutionary commitment and sense of responsibility to our country and people which all previous conferences of our movement have demonstrated throughout the eighty-nine years of the life of the ANC.
I wish this conference well.
Thank you.