Imvuselelo+ANC+Branch+Handbook,+short+version



=Imvuselelo Branch Handbook=

The Imvuselelo Branch Handbook is a printed ANC work-book for recording activities and data collected in the course of the Imvuselelo Campaign. Each Handbook is sufficient for up to 25 households. This booklet contains text copied from the PDF of the handbook, for introductory purposes. It does not include any of the illustrations or the data collection sheets. The order has also been changed. The booklet includes:


 * **Imvuselelo Campaign (page 1)**
 * **How to use the** **Imvuselelo Branch Handbook (pages 2 – 4)**
 * **Principles, Policies and Values of the ANC (pages 5 – 6)**
 * **Guidelines for Branch AGMs (pages 7 – 8)**

=Imvuselelo Campaign=

The **Imvuselelo Campaign**, which is being taken up by ANC branches across the country (sometimes under different names), is aimed at building a strong and vibrant ANC, which is capable of providing leadership to all sectors of the population and which is visible in community development efforts and struggles at ward level.

The primary target of the campaign is the membership and branches of our movement.

While the exact nature and timing of the campaign may vary from province to province, it consists of the following basic phases:

PHASE 1: **Preparation and training.** This phase involves the political and practical preparation of branch members through workshops on the objectives and phases of the campaign, and on how to conduct door-to-door work. Branch members should be able to explain the principles, policies and programmes of the ANC, the function of the household questionnaire, and should be able to respond to difficult questions occupants might raise.

PHASE 2: **Door-to-door information collection.** This is the phase in which door-to-door teams will conduct their first visit to all the households in the ward. They will collect information and record it in the “Household Questionnaire”.

PHASE 3: **Action on issues raised.** Once all households have been visited, and the common issues arising from the questionnaires identified, the branch should meet to decide what action to take on these issues. This process should also be seen as part of political education, empowering members to engage with local development issues and identifying how best problems can be resolved. It must necessarily involve ANC councillors for the area. It will also be necessary to look at what the best form is for providing feedback to the community. This may include another round of visits to households.

PHASE 4: **Recruitment.** Door-to-door teams will visit all households to recruit new members and check that existing members are up to date with their membership susbscription. They should make sure that existing and new members know about the meetings of the branch and how to get involved in branch activities.

PHASE 5: **Political discussions as part of Conference preparations.** Having a clearer sense of the local development tasks and challenges, and being acquainted with mass-based political work branch members will be in a better position to engage in debates on the discussion documents distributed in preparation for the ANC 52nd National Conference.

The Imvuselelo Campaign is not a once-off campaign. It should form the basis for an ongoing programme of membership development, organisation building and community engagement. The lessons learnt from the first campaign should be used to mould the annual programme of branches.

=How to use the Imvuselelo Branch Handbook=

This handbook is meant for ANC branches to use as part of their door-to-door work to:
 * keep a record of each household in one part of the ward, the people who live there, and the problems they experience;
 * summarise the main problems of all households in that part of the ward, what steps have been taken to address these, and whether these have been reported back;
 * tracking the renewal and recruitment of ANC membership by household. Each handbook is meant to cover a part of the ward in which the branch is located. Therefore each branch will need a couple of copies of the handbook to cover the whole ward.

Before starting, decide how many door-to-door teams will be working in the ward. Then decide how to divide the ward up into different areas. It might be easier to use a map of the ward to do this.
 * Dividing up the ward**

This will tell you how many handbooks are needed. If the branch members have been divided into 8 teams, covering 8 different areas in the ward, then you will need 8 copies of the handbook.

You will therefore number the books accordingly on the cover – Book no. 1 of 8; Book no. 2 of 8; etc.

Because there are **25 questionnaires** in each book, there shouldn’t be more than 25 households in each area.

Either draw or stick a map of the whole ward on the back cover of each book. For each book, then shade in the area that will be covered by that particular book.

Fill in the date on the cover of each book under **“Date Begun:”**.

Before setting out for door-to-door work, hold a workshop to brief the teams on the following:
 * Preparation**
 * Objectives and phases of the Imvuselelo Campaign
 * Brief overview of the principles, policies and programmes of the ANC
 * What to do at each household and how to fill in the questionnaire
 * What to do once all households have been visited and completing the summary of issues affecting households

The first visit to each household is meant to find out who lives there and what issues affect their lives. For these visits, use the Household Questionnaire in Section 5.
 * Visiting a household to establish issues**

When arriving at the house, explain that your team is from the local ANC branch, and you would like to spend some time with the members of the household to find out what problems they experience and what improvements they have seen in their lives and in their areas. Explain that the reason for this is that the ANC branch can find ways to take up these issues and try to improve the quality of people’s lives.

Remember to use a double-paged questionnaire for each household. There are 25 questionnaires in each book.

First fill in the following information:
 * **Household family name:** //Let the people know that this information is so that you can come back and provide them with feedback. You will not hand it on to other people without their permission.//
 * **Address:** //Fill in the house number, street name, etc.//
 * **Date of visits:** //Because you will be doing follow-up visits, record the date of each visit.//

Then fill in information about the numbers of people who live there:
 * **No. of adults:** //Number of adult females and males over the age of 18 living in the house.//
 * **People without IDs:** //Number of South African citizens or permanent residents over the age of 16 without an ID book.//
 * **People without old age grant:** //Females and males over the age of 60 and 65 who do not receive an old age grant.//
 * **No. of children:** //Number of female and males under the age of 18 living in the house.//
 * **Without birth certificate:** //How many of these, born in South Africa, don’t have a birth certificate.//
 * **Without child care grant:** //Number of children who qualify for a child care grant but who don’t receive one.//
 * **Household headed by:** //Indicate whether household is headed by female or male.//
 * **Age of head of household:** //Indicate the age of the person who heads the household.//

This information will help the branch know which houses to assist in getting ID books and in accessing social grants.

To get information about the employment status of the occupants, fill in:
 * **Adults employed:** //Number of adults employed, either in formal jobs, temporary jobs or self-employed.//
 * **Adults unemployed:** //Number of adults who have not worked for an income in last month.//
 * **Adults studying:** //Number of adults in full-time study.//
 * **Jobs:** //List the occupations of those employed, eg. teacher, cashier, metalworker, etc.//

Then ask the occupants of the house their experience of each of the issues listed, starting with “health care services”. The questions for each issue can be found inside the yellow fold-out flap inside the back cover of the book. These questions are meant as a guide to help occupants if they are unsure about what they are being asked to do.

For each issue covered, place a tick if this is a **Problem Area**, and briefly describe the problem. Also tick the box if they have **Seen Improvement** in their area or in their lives on this issue. Briefly describe how it has improved. Also ask them for **Suggestions** on how these can be improved.

Lastly, ask if there are any other issues not covered, and fill these in under Other Issues.

If there are any issues on which the team can provide immediate feedback, advice or information, then do so. For example, you might be able to advise the occupants that there are plans to tar their street within the next month, or that there is a Home Affairs mobile station visiting the area on the first Monday of each month, etc.

Thank the occupants for their time. Advise them that you will be taking up some of the problems they have mentioned, and will report back to them on progress made. Also tell them how to contact their local councillor and the ANC branch.

After all households in the area have been visited, the team should add up and summarise the main issues affecting households. This should be done by filling in **Summary of issues affecting households** in Section 6.
 * Summarising issues affecting households**

Start by adding up the totals for all households. This should be done by folding out the **“Total for all households”** sheet.

Now go through the **Household Questionnaire** for each household, starting from the beginning. Each time a household describes an issue as a problem, place a tick in one box under **“problem”** on the **“Total for all households”** form.

Similarly, each time a household describes an issue as having seen improvement, place a tick in one box under **“Improvements”** in the **“Total for all households”** form.

This gives you the total quantity of households that have problems or have seen improvements on each issue, which will help you measure which are the most pressing and important issues.

After this, move on to describe the main problems experienced on each issue. This should be done on the “Summary of issues affecting households” forms on page 66.

This will give you the actual detail of the common problems that need to be taken up by the ANC branch, by the council and by other governance structures.

Once all households in the ward have been visited, and a summary of all the major issues completed, the branch should convene a workshop to evaluate the issues raised in the door-to-door work.
 * Taking up issues**

For each problem identified, the branch should decide on how best to handle it. This could include referring the matter to the ward councillor, attending to the matter as a branch, working with other branches and other councillors to address the issue through the council, raising it as a matter for the ward committee, or for inclusion in the next Integrated Development Plan (IDP). It might require interaction with other levels of government, such as the district council or a provincial or national department. It might be a matter for the regional office of the Department of Home Affairs or the SA Social Security Agency.

There is space on the **“Summary of issues affecting households”** form to record for each problem:
 * **Action decided on:** //Describe the course of action decided upon by the branch.//
 * **Referred to:** //If the matter was referred to a councillor or another structure, note who it was referred to and when.//
 * **Update:** //Record any updates on progress and when.//
 * **Outcome:** //Record the outcome of the process.//
 * **Reported back:** //Record how the matter was reported back to the residents (eg. directly to relevant households or through a public meeting) and the date of the report back.//

It is important to record the progress of each problem in each of the books because the door-to-door teams will need that information on the next visit to the household.

As part of phase 4 of the Imvuselelo Campaign, door-to-door teams will once again visit households, this time with the aim of recruiting new ANC members, and ensuring that existing ANC members have renewed their membership, and are informed about branch general meetings.
 * Visiting a household for recruitment**

For each household, use the **“Recruitment”** form in Section 7 (this is directly below the “Household Questionnaire” form).

The teams would obviously take enough ANC membership forms with them.

First check whether any of the occupants of the house are existing ANC members, and whether their membership is up-to-date. Also check that they have received their membership cards. Record all of this information on the form.

Then check if there are any occupants who would like to join the ANC. In addition to the normal procedures for joining the ANC, record their details in the form. Make sure that once they have served the period of provisional membership, they receive their membership card without undue delay.

Once you have visited all the households in an area, total the number of memberships renewed and the number of new members recruited on the fold-out form on page 66. This information should be checked against the branch’s membership records.
 * Summarising recruitment information**

Once a book has been completed, put the date on cover under: **“Date Completed:”**, and file the book with all the others from other parts of the ward as part of the branch record.
 * Completing a book**

=Principles, Policies and Values of the ANC=

The ANC is a national liberation movement. It was formed in 1912 to unite the African people and spearhead the struggle for fundamental political, social and economic change.

For nine decades the ANC has led the struggle against racism and oppression, organising mass resistance, mobilising the international community and taking up the armed struggle against apartheid.

The ANC achieved a decisive democratic breakthrough in the 1994 elections, where it was given a firm mandate to negotiate a new democratic Constitution for South Africa. The new Constitution was adopted in 1996. The ANC was re-elected in 1999 and 2004 to national and provincial government, each time with an increased mandate.

The policies of the ANC are determined by its membership and its leadership is accountable to the membership. Membership of the ANC is open to all South Africans above the age of 18 years, irrespective of race, colour and creed, who accept its principles, policies and programmes.

The ANC’s key objective is the creation of a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society. This means the liberation of Africans in particular and black people in general from political and economic bondage. It means uplifting the quality of life of all South Africans, especially the poor.
 * Aims and objectives**

The ANC fights for social justice and the elimination of the vast inequalities created by apartheid and the system of national oppression.

The ANC supports and works to advance the cause of women’s emancipation.

The ANC aims to build a South African nation with a common patriotism and loyalty in which the cultural, linguistic and religious diversity of the people is recognised.

The policies of the ANC are rooted in the Freedom Charter, adopted in 1955, which contains the vision of a South Africa which belongs to all who live in it.
 * Policy**

The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) contains the basic policy framework of the ANC for the transformation of South Africa. The key elements of the RDP include meeting basic needs, developing our human resources, building the economy, and democratising the state and society.

In the 2004 national elections, the ANC received a clear mandate to implement programmes to achieve the objectives of **Vision 2014**. These include to:
 * Reduce unemployment by half through new jobs, skills development, assistance to small businesses, opportunities for self-employment and sustainable community livelihoods.
 * Reduce poverty by half through economic development, comprehensive social security, land reform and improved household and community assets.
 * Provide the skills required by the economy with an education system that is geared for productive work, good citizenship and a caring society.
 * Ensure that all South Africans are fully able to exercise their constitutional rights and enjoy the full dignity of freedom.
 * Compassionate government service to the people; national, provincial and local public representatives who are accessible; and citizens who know their rights and insist on fair treatment and efficient service.
 * Massively reduce cases of TB, diabetes, malnutrition and maternal deaths, and turn the tide against HIV and AIDS.
 * Significantly reduce the number of serious and priority crimes, with a society that actively challenges crime and corruption, and with programmes that also address the social roots of criminality.
 * Position South Africa strategically as an effective force in global relations, with vibrant and balanced trade and other relations with countries of the South and the North, and in an Africa that is growing, prospering and benefiting all Africans, especially the poor.

This was reinforced by a mandate in the **2006 local government elections**, which aims to:
 * Accelerate service delivery so that no community will still be using the bucket system for sanitation by 2007; all communities have access to clean water and decent sanitation by 2010; all houses have access to electricity by 2012; and there is universal provision of free basic services.
 * Ensure better quality houses closer to economic opportunities and combat corruption in the administration of waiting lists.
 * Improve services at hospitals and clinics, schools, police stations and other government centres in our communities.
 * Implement large projects that will help create more work opportunities.
 * Pool resources to build more and better roads, infrastructure for water and sanitation, and schools and clinics where they are needed, in rural and urban areas alike.
 * Implement other special programmes in rural and urban areas where the poorest people live, including assistance in setting up food gardens.
 * Assist those who want to set up small businesses with skills, credit and other forms of support.

The values and principles of an ANC member include:
 * Responsibilities of an ANC member**
 * humility and a selfless dedication to the struggle for a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society,
 * concern for the will and interests of the people, captured in the principles of //Batho Pele// – people first,
 * a commitment to implement the policies of the movement and the decisions of the collective.

Members of the ANC are expected to:
 * belong to an ANC branch, pay subscription fees and assist in building the ANC,
 * participate actively in the discussion, formulation and implementation of ANC policy and programmes,
 * accept and defend the decisions of the relevant structures of the movement,
 * build the unity of the ANC and democratic movement and combat corruption, nepotism and factionalism,
 * fight against racism, tribal chauvinism, sexism, religious and political intolerance or any form of discrimination,
 * constantly remain informed of political and other developments, building their own capabilities as part of a process of life-long learning,
 * remain in touch with the people and play an active role in the affairs of the community,
 * behave in an exemplary way in day-to-day life, and not use positions of responsibility for self-enrichment or personal gain.

ANC Members’ Oath
4.15 On being accepted in the ANC, a new member shall, in a language he or she knows well, make the following solemn declaration to the body or person designated to administer such oaths:

//I, ..............., solemnly declare that I will abide by the aims and objectives of the African National Congress as set out in the Constitution, the Freedom Charter and other duly adopted policy positions, that I am joining the organisation voluntarily and without motives of material advantage or personal gain, that I agree to respect the Constitution and the structures and to work as a loyal member of the organisation, that I will place my energies and skills at the disposal of the organisation and carry out tasks given to me, that I will work towards making the ANC an even more effective instrument of liberation in the hands of the people, and that I will defend the unity and integrity of the organisation and its principles, and combat any tendency towards disruption and factionalism.//

=Guidelines for Branch AGMs=

These guidelines are developed to ensure that the process of preparing for an Annual General Meeting (AGM) and the procedure thereof does not become cumbersome, difficult and divisive but in compliance with the provisions of the Constitution of the ANC. They seek to provide clarity to our structures, membership and deployees and to always ensure the right things are done and the AGM progresses successfully. Thirdly, they cover all aspects that make our structures to comply with audit requirements, which in essence qualify them to be legitimate structures of the ANC.
 * Introduction**


 * How To Organise For Branch AGM**

1. Every Branch of the ANC shall convene an AGM annually, after every twelve months. The AGM is the highest decision-making body at the level of the branch and has the right to receive reports and renew mandates.

2. The AGM shall be openly advertised in public notices, individual invitations to members, confirmations or any other way possible.

3. The branch shall convene a Branch General Meeting (BGM) before the AGM to confirm and ratify membership records. The Region must allow branches access to membership files so that the records in the Region and the Branch tally. This must be done to avoid unaccounted and unaudited membership on the day of the AGM.

4. All members of the Branch in good standing qualify to attend the AGM. Members who qualify to attend will bring their identify documents (ID’s) and copies of their membership forms or membership cards. Records in the branch file may be used in case members are unable to produce copies of their membership but ID is prerequisite.

5. The Branch Secretariat must have copies of membership forms of all paid-up members in the branch file. The valid records to be used in an AGM are the ones that are kept in the file of the branch secretariat. These records must have been ratified by the branch at the BGM preceding the AGM. The Region must at all times ensure that records in the office are verified against those that have been passed by the BGM.

6. Members who do not meet the probation requirements are allowed at the AGM, but they are without voting powers. They must sign a separate attendance register prepared for observers.

7. The AGM shall be overseen by a deployee(s) from the REC/PEC/NEC. The deployee does not run the AGM but gives a political input and facilitates the election process. The BEC will preside over the AGM.

8. Quorum is 50% +1 attendance of the total paid-up membership in the branch. These members must have entered in the properly prepared attendance register relevant information and append their signatures. There must be a provision on every page of the attendance register for the signatures of the deployees, the Branch Chairperson and Secretary.

9. The AGM shall elect the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Treasurer and not more than ten additional members. Candidates shall be nominated by members at the AGM. For a nominee to stand their name must be supported by at least 25 % of members in attendance. The AGM shall agree on the method of voting. Candidates shall not be ordered to go out of the hall when their names are being voted.

10. Members whose membership is less than a year old do not qualify to stand for leadership positions.

11. The original copy of the attendance register must be submitted to the regional office within 24 hours after the AGM. Arrangements must be made for the branch secretariat to have a copy of the attendance register.

12. The AGM programme must include among others, the following: i) Opening ii) Introductions iii) Input on Through the Eye of the Needle by deployee iv) Branch political report v) Organisational report vi) Discussions vii) Dissolution of BEC viii) Elections ix) Closing address by newly elected chairperson

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