ANC+52nd+National+Conference+2007,+Resolution+on+Economic+Transformation

ANC 52ND NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2007 - RESOLUTIONS

 * [|Click here to view the PDF Format]**


 * CONTENTS**
 * 1) Organisational Renewal
 * 2) Social Transformation
 * 3) **Economic Transformation**
 * 4) Climate Change
 * 5) Rural Development, Land Reform and Agrarian Change
 * 6) Transformation of State and Governance
 * 7) Peace and Stability
 * 8) International Relations
 * 9) Communications and the Battle of Ideas

=**ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION**=


 * BELIEVING THAT:**
 * 1) Our vision of the economic transformation takes as its starting point the Freedom Charter's clarion call that the People Shall Share in the Country's Wealth!
 * 2) Since 1994 we have made substantial progress in transforming the economy to benefit the majority, but serious challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality remain.
 * 3) Therefore, we are still at the beginning of the historic transformation of the economy called for in the Charter. It is a process of economic transformation which aims to realise:
 * 4) A thriving and integrated economy, which draws on the creativity and skills that our whole population can offer, building on South Africa's economic endowments to create decent work for all and eliminate poverty.
 * 5) Increasing social equality and a growing economy, which reinforce each other and constitute a positive cycle of development that improves the quality of life of all our people.
 * 6) National prosperity through rising productivity, brought about by innovation and cutting edge technology, labour-absorbing industrial growth, competitive markets and a thriving small business and cooperative sector and the utilisation of information and communication technologies with efficient forms of production and management
 * 7) The progressive realisation of socio-economic rights, through fair labour practices, social security for the poor, universal access to basic services and ongoing programmes to defeat poverty.
 * 8) A mixed economy, where the state, private capital, cooperative and other forms of social ownership complement each other in an integrated way to eliminate poverty and foster shared economic growth.
 * 9) An economy that is connected to the world, and which benefits from vibrant and balanced trade with the rest of the world. In particular, an economy that is increasingly integrated into the Southern African region and our continent as a whole, in furtherance of the goals of development and regeneration of Africa.
 * 10) A sustainable economy, where all South Africans, present and future, realise their right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being.
 * 11) The changes we seek will not emerge spontaneously from the 'invisible hand' of the market. People acting collectively in the spirit of human solidarity must shape the patterns of economic development. In this process the state must play a central and strategic role, by directly investing in underdeveloped areas and directing private sector investment.

1.1 A strengthened role for the central organs of state, including through the creation of an institutional centre for government-wide economic planning with the necessary resources and authority to prepare and implement long and medium term economic and development planning. 1.2 The integration, harmonisation and alignment of planning and implementation across all three spheres of government, and with the development finance institutions and state-owned enterprises, including through the development of coherent inter-sectoral plans at national level and the alignment of local implementation in terms of the IDPs of metro, district and local municipalities. 1.3 Building the human capacity of the state by establishing uniform and high entrance requirements and standards of employment in the public service, emphasising professionalism, discipline and a commitment to serve and ensuring adequate numbers of personnel to ensure delivery, particularly in the case of front line staff in areas such as education, health and policing. 1.4 Building the technical capacity of the state to engage with, understand and lead the development of dynamic and globally integrated economic sectors. 1.5 The developmental state should maintain its strategic role in shaping the key sectors of the economy, including the mineral and energy complex and the national transport and logistics system. Whilst the forms of state interventions would differ, the over-riding objective would be to intervene strategically in these sectors to drive the growth, development and transformation of the structure of our economy. 1.6 A developmental state must ensure that our national resource endowments, including land, water, minerals and marine resources are exploited to effectively maximise the growth, development and employment potential embedded in such national assets, and not purely for profit maximisation. 1.7 Strengthening the role of state-owned enterprises and ensuring that, whilst remaining financially viable, SOEs, agencies and utilities - as well as companies in which the state has significant shareholding - respond to a clearly defined public mandate and act in terms of our overarching industrial policy and economic transformation objectives. 1.8 Building and strengthening development finance institutions, as well as non-financial institutions, which are accessible to the people, and which are able to effectively channel financial and institutional resources towards a variety of economic transformation objectives, including industrial diversification and development, small businesses and cooperatives, small-scale agriculture, micro-enterprises and local and regional economic development, and the empowerment of youth and women. 1.9 The building of small and micro enterprises is also a critical developmental challenge, which requires the state to deploy resources to build capacity and institutions. The mobilisation of small businesses into cooperative organisations is a critical part of the solutions to this challenge. So is the education of our people in entrepreneurial skills, the provision of financial support and training to small businesses. At the same time we should ensure that fundamental worker rights are protected in small enterprise. 1.10 Building the capacity of the state to mobilise the people as a whole, especially the poor, to act as their own liberators through participatory and representative democracy. 2.1 Making the creation of decent work opportunities the primary focus of economic policies. This central objective should be reflected in the terms of reference of development finance institutions, bodies such as the Competition Commission, the terms of public procurement and public incentives, the sequencing of industrial and trade policy reforms and our sustainable macro-economic policy stance. 2.2 Accelerating shared economic growth by: 2.3 Transforming the structures of production and ownership, including through: 2.4 A comprehensive and clear rural development strategy, which builds the potential for rural sustainable livelihoods, particularly for African women, as part of an overarching vision of rural development. Strong interventions in the private land market combined with better use of state land for social and economic objectives, must transform the patterns of land ownership and agrarian production, with a view to restructuring and deracialising the agricultural sector. 2.5 Overcoming spatial patterns of economic marginalisation and fragmentation and reversing the geography of apartheid in both urban and rural areas. 2.6 Expanding the opportunities for sustainable livelihoods and supporting the growth of second economy activities in urban centres through better access to the centres of economic growth and through financial and institutional support for cooperatives and micro-enterprise. 2.7 Directly absorbing the unemployed through: 2.8 Expanding the social wage by: 2.9 Investing in priority skills and education, including through: 2.10 The use of natural resources of which the state is the custodian on behalf of the people, including our minerals, water, marine resources in a manner that promotes the sustainability and development of local communities and also realises the economic and social needs of the whole nation. In this regard, we must continue to strengthen the implementation of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), which seeks to realise some of these goals. Our programme must also deepen the linkages of the mineral sector to the national economy through beneficiation of these resources and creating supplier and service industries around the minerals sector. 2.11 Ensuring a security of supply of energy resources, and pursing an energy mix that includes clean and renewable sources to meet the demands of our fast growing economy without compromising our commitment to sustainable development. 2.12 Integration of the South African economy on a fair and equitable basis with the economies in the Southern African region and building stronger economic linkages across the continent of Africa as a whole as a basis for increasing our market size through deepened economic integration. 2.13 Participating in world trade, pursuing strategic partnerships with countries of the south and agitating for a fairer world trade system. In particular, this means ensuring policy space to find new opportunities for employment should not be compromised. The position adopted by South Africa in global trade reform talks must continue to emphasise the need to retain policy space on tariffs and industry protection for developing countries and avoid obligations to significantly liberalise our manufacturing or services sector. 2.14 Macro-economic policies that support and sustain growth, job creation and poverty eradication on a sustainable basis.
 * AND FURTHER BELIEVING THAT:**
 * 1) The central and most pressing challenges we face are unemployment, poverty and inequality. In this regard, we reiterate our determination to halve unemployment and poverty from their 2004 levels, and substantially reduce social and economic inequality.
 * 2) Answering the challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality means that we must simultaneously accelerate economic growth and transform the quality of that growth. Our most effective weapon in the campaign against poverty is the creation of decent work, and creating work requires faster economic growth. Moreover, the challenges of poverty and inequality require that accelerated growth take place in the context of an effective strategy of redistribution that builds a new and more equitable growth path.
 * 3) The skewed patterns of ownership and production, the spatial legacies of our apartheid past and the tendencies of the economy towards inequality, dualism and marginalisation will not recede automatically as economic growth accelerates. Therefore, decisive action is required to thoroughly and urgently transform the economic patterns of the present in order to realise our vision for the future. This includes addressing the monopoly domination of our economy, which remains an obstacle to the goals of economic transformation, growth and development.
 * 4) Accelerating growth and transforming the economy both require an effective, democratic and developmental state that is able lead in the definition of a common national agenda, mobilise society to take part in the implementation of that agenda and direct resources towards realising these objectives.
 * 5) Our understanding of a developmental state is that it is located at the centre of a mixed economy. It is a state which leads and guides that economy and which intervenes in the interest of the people as a whole.
 * 6) A South African developmental state, whilst learning from the experiences of others, must be built on the solid foundation of South African realities. Whilst engaging private capital strategically, our government must be rooted amongst the people and buttressed by a mass-based democratic liberation movement. Whilst determining a clear and consistent path forward, it must also seek to build consensus on a democratic basis that builds national unity. Whilst acting effectively to promote growth, efficiency and productivity, it must be equally effective in addressing the social conditions of the masses of our people and realising economic progress for the poor.
 * THEREFORE RESOLVES:**
 * 1) To build the strategic, organisational and technical capacities of government with a view to a democratic developmental state, through:
 * 1) To pursue a programme of economic transformation based on the following pillars:
 * Acting decisively to address the most significant obstacles that limit the pace of economic growth and intervening in favour of a more equitable growth path.
 * Continuing to roll out a state-led infrastructure investment programme, and promoting strategic investments in productive activities with the aim of diversifying the economy and building towards an overall investment to GDP ratio of 25%.
 * Active and well-resourced industrial and trade policy aimed at creating decent work through expansion of labour absorbing sectors, diversifying our industrial and services base, pursuing an active beneficiation strategy, building sustainable export industries, and expanding production for domestic and regional consumption. In general, industrial policy should lead our overall approach to sector development, whilst trade policy should play a supporting role and be sensitive to employment outcomes.
 * Broad-based BEE aimed at broadening and deracialising the ownership and control of productive assets by black people, women and youth, promoting new black enterprises which are engaged in the production of goods and services, building the skills required by the economy and advancing employment equity in every area of work and economic endeavour.
 * Anti-monopoly and anti-concentration policy aimed at creating competitive markets, broadening ownership and participation by our people, addressing monopoly pricing and other forms of rent-seeking and anti-competitive behaviour and overcoming barriers to entry that inhibit the growth of small enterprises, including strategies to increase competition by promoting the emergence of new players in both South Africa and the SADC region.
 * Many of our monopolies are based on the nation's natural resources and we must find ways and means to intervene, including through state custody of these resources on behalf of the people and regulation to ensure competitive pricing of inputs for our downstream manufacturing sector. Furthermore, the small size and relative isolation of our economy leads to monopolies in certain sectors which could be overcome by increasing regional economic integration with Southern Africa and the continent as a whole.
 * Policies that promote and sustain small business, micro-enterprises, small scale agriculture and cooperative forms of ownership by providing financial and non-financial resources and building institutions that can effectively access and develop these sectors.
 * Labour intensive production methods and procurement policies.
 * A significant expansion of the public works programmes linked to the expansion of economic infrastructure and meeting social needs with home-based care and early childhood development on a massive scale.
 * A much larger national youth service and ensuring the linkage of industrial strategy with key youth development programmes in the form of an integrated Youth Development Strategy.
 * Programmes that target the employment of women.
 * Ensuring universal and subsidised access to basic services, health care, affordable transport and access to government information.
 * Free and compulsory education and ongoing campaigns for adult literacy.
 * Maintaining and where appropriate expanding the provision of social grants and finding ways and means of alleviating the burden of low income earners.
 * Improving our performance in maths, science and technology.
 * Significantly expanding the resources devoted to our capacity as a people for knowledge production and expanding the resources devoted to innovation and research, including through an innovation management framework which includes the promotion and development of indigenous knowledge.
 * Improving our entrepreneurial, business and financial skills, and building our public and project management capacities.
 * Reviving the role state-owned enterprises in skills development and training, and building partnerships between the state, parastatals, the union movement and the private sector in the quest to improve skills.
 * Placing Further Education and Training colleges at the centre of a popular drive to transfer skills to our people including by providing these institutions with more resources, and scaling-up dedicated bursary schemes to popularise and subsidise attendance at FET institutions.
 * 1) To enhance the capacity of the African National Congress to monitor and evaluate the implementation of economic policy, including through:
 * Establishing dedicated capacity, with the requisite resources, to monitor policy implementation and conduct ongoing assessment and engagement around economic policy issues, at national, provincial and regional level.
 * A national programme of economic literacy for ANC members.
 * 1) To take the lead in mobilising and uniting all South Africans around our common vision of economic transformation.

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