The+ANC+future,+by+the+ANC,+City+Press

City Press, Johannesburg, 10/06/2006 18:46 - (SA)
=The ANC's future. . . by the ANC=

The ANC has released an internal discussion document that seeks to preserve its soul as the champion of the poor. The document is a thorough introspection of the ANC and asks difficult questions about the future of the party. This is an edited version of the document that will inform the kind of leader the ANC should have

BACKGROUND : The ANC will hold its 52nd national conference in December 2007. The conference is critical from two angles. It will be the first assembly of the ANC's highest decision-making body in the second decade of freedom, after 13 years of democracy and a government led by the ANC and it will precede, by two years, the stepping down of the current president of the ANC as president of the Republic.

In this respect, therefore, this will be one of the most decisive moments in the ANC's history, marking a confluence of three critical undertakings:


 * An ANC that will be 95 years old, called upon to start, in the light of a century's experience, defining a vision for its own evolution in its second century of existence;
 * An ANC that can, with the advantage of more than a decade of experience in governance, confidently chart out a trajectory of the country's development far into the first century of the third millennium;
 * An ANC that will in broad terms be managing a generational transition as most of the stalwarts of the campaigns of the 1940s and 1950s bow out of formal political leadership structures.

All these three matters require strategic, dispassionate and honest reflection in the ranks of the movement. At the core of such reflection should be the critical issues of content - a self-assured self-definition by the ANC in the context of a long-term vision.

Deriving from this would be the identification of the kind of leadership the movement needs to carry out these tasks. The two issues are intimately linked. Both within and outside our ranks and even among those opposed to the ANC, the contestation around these issues has been joined. And the ANC itself has to give leadership.

The ANC is still by definition a liberation movement with the primary mission of dealing with the contradictions that were thrown up by the system of apartheid colonialism. Using various terrains of struggle and centres of power - mass organisation, the state, economic centre, ideological struggle and international work - it has the central task of organising and mobilising the motive forces of the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) to realise their common and disparate interests.

Besides its own theoretical self-definition, composition of its branch structures and its conduct of government policy, the ANC's assertion that it is an organisation whose primary constituency is the working class and the poor has repeatedly been borne out by electoral results.

This class content is informed by the national question in our country is reflected in the fact that those whose station is improving as a consequence of democratic change - the emergent black middle and upper strata - have also remained loyal to the ANC, and see themselves as allies of workers and the poor.

At the same time, as the ANC succeeds in changing the country for the better, to the benefit of more than just its narrow constituency, more and more sections of the white community are identifying with the broad objectives of change and some even with the ANC as an organisation: in a sense, the ANC starts to assume the character of being a representative of the people as a whole.

CHALLENGE OF SELF-DEFINITION : These questions do not lend themselves to easy answers. The natural tendency for any organism is to grow and annex space. Yet, if the ANC in its evolution into the future merely responded as an unthinking object of natural selection, it may become soulless and rudderless - a dinosaur so shorn of ideological rooting that what defines it are battles for leadership positions within the movement and, in turn, within government.

In addressing this challenge the following issues should guide our approach. The ANC should continue to consolidate its leadership of the motive forces of the NDR in their totality, proceeding from the premise that its core constituency is the working class in particular and the poor in general. However, it should be noted that a significant layer of these core motive forces do reflect a level of marginalisation and alienation that should be cause for concern - eg violent protests and significant non-participation in elections.

The ANC should clearly define its ideological relationship with the working class. An amorphous expression of leaning towards workers and reference to pro-poor government policies are not enough: there should be clarity in more positive terms about the kind of society (and indeed the kind of economy or even capitalism) we seek to create.

The ANC should more clearly define the organisational and structural relationship it seeks to forge with organised workers. This should involve a much more pro-active and strategic engagement with Cosatu and its affiliates. Related to this should be the guidance the ANC gives to the evolution of the trade union movement - should we actively promote unity of the organised working class, and should political conditions be attached to this?

The ANC should "grow" with the emergent black middle strata and capitalist class, devising ways of organisation, ideological leadership and definition of each sector's tasks in line with the core strategic objectives of the NDR.

This is proceeding from the premise that these sectors have a direct interest in transforming the structural features of our society and economy.

This challenge also applies to winning over strata and classes from the white community. It is the task of the ANC to weld these and other forces around the programme of transformation.

The ANC should devise creative ways of capturing the imagination of the new generation of young people. These young people are to be found across the spectrum of classes and strata in society, including workers, middle strata and entrepreneurs.

Defining their personality, though, is that they grow up under conditions in which old forms of organisation and mobilisation are patently inadequate.

The ANC should adopt clear and formal constitutional and structural mechanisms to reflect the reality of being in office. This relates to formalisation of ANC government collectives (executives, legislature caucuses and so on) within the movement's constitutional structures. This should be combined with addressing challenges of accountability and dispassionately managing the negative effects of incumbency such as careerism, competition for status, corruption and so on.

The ANC should forge a cadreship through programmes that relate to the actual challenges that these members face in their daily lives.

This requires a deliberate combination of politico-ideological education and skilling to lead processes in government, the private sector and civil society in general.

Especially in this environment of political incumbency and opportunities in the private sector, it would be the height of folly on its part for the ANC to live in the hope that cadres selflessly committed to the people's interests will emerge without conscious preparation.

The ANC should ensure deliberate processes to assemble leadership collectives that reflect its core mandate and tasks.

This means ensuring, among others, that its leadership structures reflect the national, class and gender content of the NDR as well as appropriate balances between cadreship in and outside of the governmental terrain.

IMPLICATIONS FOR ELECTION OF LEADERSHIP : All these considerations, and perhaps many others, are fundamental to the debate on national leadership as we prepare for the 52nd national conference. In this critical period, the ANC cannot afford a situation in which the outcome in composing the National Executive Committee, including the officials, is left to chance, and thus more likely to become a product of machinations of forces outside of, or even inimical to, the movement.

Necessarily, we should ensure that the balances in the composition of the national leadership are informed by our immediate programmatic challenges. But, in this period of a major transition, a period in which decisions we take will define the movement's personality for at least a decade, it is critical to appreciate that what we shall be putting in place are the stepping-stones towards a new evolutionary trajectory for the movement in its second century of existence.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES: THROUGH THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE : It elaborates attributes that are expected of leaders, including understanding and application of policy, self-improvement by learning from mistakes, avoiding populism, leading by example including revolutionary morality, and subjection to the will of the collective.

In terms of the ongoing challenges that individuals in leadership positions face, Through the Eye of a Needle is instructive in identifying the following issues.

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.

Through the Eye of a Needle also places quite a high premium on the integrity of the democratic processes within the movement. This includes the fact that election processes start within the basic unit, the branch. Where nominations are made, there should be clear motivation and discussion of such; and candidates for specific positions become such only when formal nomination has taken place and, in relation to national conferences, when the Electoral Commission has certified and confirmed such nomination (distinct from speculation in, and lobbying through, the media).

Such motivation and discussion should dispassionately factor in the performance of individuals and the collective as a whole during their term of office. Also critical are considerations of all-round capacity and development of the new cadres being proposed for leadership.

The document warns against negative tendencies that have started to manifest themselves in the context of the ANC being in political office. These include the danger of using positions with power of patronage to suppress debate or for individuals to censor themselves and hide their own genuine views to please "seniors"; corrupt practices which include "buying" of ANC membership cards to load conferences with "voting cattle"; business interests sponsoring candidates so as corruptly to benefit when "their people" are in government; and an intense display of factionalism and even tribalism especially when government positions are at stake.

OVERALL LEADERSHIP COLLECTIVE : The trend in the past few years is that the NEC has evolved to consist of only the middle strata and business, a consequence of political incumbency and opening of opportunities in the private sector: it would be a travesty of its own express orientation if the ANC's national leadership does not include working class cadres.

Over the past few years, there has been a weakening in balanced racial demographics in leadership structures, a matter that needs to be consciously addressed: this is even starker in relation to the NWC which is made up only of Africans.

With regard to these and other issues, it will be critical as early as possible to start debating changes that may need to be introduced to the ANC constitution in order to address a number of adjustments. For instance, consideration may need to be given to increasing the size of the NEC from the current upper limit of 93 provided for in the constitution (including at most five "co-optees") to a maximum of 120.

This would help accommodate the following considerations:


 * 180 directly-elected members plus six officials
 * If agreed, introduction of the 50/50 gender representation without necessarily displacing young male cadres who are acquitting themselves well in various capacities
 * Provision for 10 co-opted members to allow for regional, demographic, class, governmental deployment and other balances
 * Four additional positions in the NEC reserved for individuals nominated by the trade union movement (Cosatu ), even if some trade union leaders may have been directly elected
 * Over time ensure that strategic political leadership positions in national government are occupied by elected/co-opted NEC members, and the need for extended NEC meetings is reduced.

THE PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION : In respect of the ANC presidency, two options present themselves: continuation of the current president as president of the ANC, or election of a new president. While strictly speaking this should be separated from considerations relating to Presidency of the Republic, it is unavoidable that decisions taken would have to take the 2009 scenario into account. For reasons outlined below, the decision should be taken as a package, with the following options.

Option 1: current ANC president is elected to continue and a deputy president is also elected. In this consideration, the question regarding the president and deputy president of the Republic in 2009 would be left open. The deputy president of the ANC could become the country's president (option 1a) or someone else selected through the list process (option 1b), and that person would select his/her deputy president in government.

Option 2: a new ANC president is elected and a deputy president also elected. A consideration in many cadres' minds and the public perception would be that the ANC president would become the movement's 2009 presidential candidate.

In 2009, the ANC deputy president (option 2a) or anyone else (option 2b) would be appointed as deputy president of the country.


 * From: http://www.news24.com/City_Press/Features/0,7515,186-1696_1949260,00.html**

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