Mass+Mobilisation,+Caring+Society,+ANC+2008+Statement,+Abridged



=Statement on January 8th, 2008 (abridged by CU)=
 * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress**

This anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on the challenges of the moment, and to outline the tasks that the organisation must necessarily undertake to advance the historic mission of the African National Congress. We undertake this important work having benefited from the deliberations and decisions of the 52nd ANC National Conference, held just a few weeks ago in Polokwane. This historic gathering of the highest structure of our movement adopted the policy and programme of the ANC for the next five years, providing a clear guide to all our structures, cadres and deployees.

The conference has also served to rejuvenate and invigorate our membership, instilling confidence and providing direction for the mass work that must be undertaken by all our branches.

We must start by underlining the extension of our gratitude, on behalf of the membership, to the former President of the ANC, Cde Thabo Mbeki and the National Executive Committee that led the organisation during the last five years. We will continue to draw on their expertise as we together, steer the movement forward in the fight against poverty, unemployment and bridging the gap between rich and poor. The hard work that must be undertaken to implement the decisions of the 52nd National Conference begins today, and it must be done by all of us, as one united ANC.

Among others, the milestones we will commemorate in 2008 include:
 * KEY ANNIVERSARIES AND EVENTS**


 * the 90th anniversary of the formation of the Bantu Women's League of the ANC, an historical assertion of the central role of women in the struggle for liberation, and a seminal moment in the course of the struggle for women's emancipation;
 * the 80th anniversary of the adoption by Communist Party of South Africa of the 'Native Republic' resolution, which envisaged an independent republic with full and equal rights for all races;
 * the 60th anniversary of the formation of the ANC Women's League, which galvanised women within the ANC into an organised grouping capable of advancing the interests of women within the movement and society;
 * the 25th anniversary of the formation of the United Democratic Front (UDF), a critical moment in the deepening of internal resistance and mobilisation that contributed to the collapse of the apartheid system;
 * the 20th anniversary of the defeat of the SADF at the battle of Cuito Cuanavale, which marked a turning point in the apartheid war of aggression against the people of Angola, contributing to the achievement of Namibian independence, and providing impetus to the process that led to the negotiated end of apartheid. We use this occasion to salute the sons and daughters of the Cuban people who laid down their lives in the fight for our freedom.

The ANC belongs to all its members equally. Membership or leadership of the ANC must never be used to marginalise or exclude others.
 * A CALL FOR UNITY**

The decision by Conference to adopt a policy of gender parity within all structures of the movement has served to deepen our efforts to confront sexism, gender equality and discrimination. Beginning with the NEC, all ANC structures will have a minimum of 50 percent representation of women.
 * AN HISTORIC MOMENT IN THE STRUGGLE FOR GENDER EQUALITY**

The Conference has committed the organisation to a broad range of endeavours over the next five years, all of which are comprehensively described in the Conference resolutions. We urge all ANC members to study these resolutions in detail, as they must necessarily form the basis for all our work in the months and years ahead.
 * PROGRAMME FOR TRANSFORMATION**

There should not be any apprehension about relations between the ANC and its government. We are aware of the responsibility to ensure smooth working relations, and we cannot fail the nation in this regard. ANC members outside government will not be allowed to undermine those in the government. Those deployed in government cannot undermine the ANC. Should this happen, we will take very serious action. The NEC will be holding its annual planning Lekgotla from 18-20 January.

Serious challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality remain. Answering these challenges means that we must simultaneously accelerate economic growth and transform the quality of that growth. Conference said:
 * THE PEOPLE SHALL SHARE IN THE COUNTRY'S WEALTH!**

"Our most effective weapon in the campaign against poverty is the creation of decent work. Moreover, the challenges of poverty and inequality require that accelerated growth takes place in the context of an effective strategy of redistribution..."

During the course of this year, we must make the creation of decent work opportunities the primary focus of our economic policies. We need to make maximum use of all the means at our disposal, as the leading party in government, to achieve this.

Among the challenges that we therefore face is to respond effectively to the massive income inequality that continues to bedevil our society as we continue to make progress in pushing back the frontiers of poverty. Education and health must be prioritised as the core elements of social transformation.
 * TACKLING POVERTY AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT**

During the course of this year, we need to further enhance our efforts to improve the conditions of children and youth in poverty. We will need to attend to a number of Conference resolutions, including the proposal to gradually extend child support grants to 18 years, the development of a comprehensive strategy on early childhood development, and the progressive expansion of the school nutrition programme to include high school learners in poorer communities.

Over the next five years we need to undertake a concerted ANC-led campaign to support and promote the continued transformation of education. This is a task that necessarily requires a longer view. Education must be elevated from being a departmental issue, or even a government issue, to a societal issue - one that occupies the attention and energy of all our people.
 * THE DOORS OF LEARNING AND CULTURE SHALL BE OPENED!**

Education is fundamental to the achievement of the society envisaged in the Freedom Charter.

We commit to restore, uphold and promote the status of teachers by remunerating them as professionals and improving the conditions in which they work.

We need to pay particular attention to improving the access of poor South Africans to quality education, in particular, intensifying our effort to progressively introduce free and compulsory education for the poor until undergraduate level. As part of this, we must work to implement the resolution that 60% of all schools achieve "no-fee" status by 2009.

This year will see the launch by government of a National Mass Literacy Campaign, which will see 80,000 tutors engaged to enable 4, 7 million adults to achieve basic literacy and numeracy by 2012. As the ANC, we must applaud this initiative, and work to ensure its success. We must encourage people to participate in this campaign, and provide whatever assistance we can at a local level to facilitate its implementation.

The achievement of better health for all is an important part of improving the quality of life of poor South Africans. This year, progress needs to be made in the implementation of the National Health Insurance System by further strengthening the public health care system and ensuring adequate provision of funding.
 * Health**

We must acknowledge that much is wrong in our public health care system. Though progress has been made, the country is still faced with significant challenges with respect to the quality of care provided; the physical infrastructure, maintenance and management of public health facilities; the working conditions and remuneration of doctors, nurses and other health care workers; and the inequitable distribution of health care resources. Government should pay particular attention to the high cost of health provision, including measures to curb medicine prices.

Conference recognised the geographical disparities that still plague our nation, which, unless consciously addressed, will continue to stifle the development of large sections of our population. People living in rural areas, particularly those in the former bantustans, daily face the harshest conditions of poverty, food insecurity, and lack of access to services.
 * THE LAND SHALL BE SHARED AMONG THOSE WHO WORK IT!**

During this year, we need to make progress in the implementation of the outcomes of the National Land Summit and our Conference resolutions with respect to foreign ownership of land; allocation of customary land; and the review of the willing-buyer, willing-seller approach.

In last year's January 8th Statement we said that we needed to make every possible effort decisively to tackle the scourge of crime, drawing on the resources and capacity of all sectors of society. As a nation, we can draw strength from the progress that has been made since then to limit the ability of criminals to undermine our society and violate the right of our people to safety and security.
 * THERE SHALL BE HOUSES, SECURITY AND COMFORT!**

But the struggle is far from over. During the course of 2008, we must sharpen our anti-crime campaign. Conference took a number of decisions that will enhance our efforts to forge safer communities. These relate to the structure and functioning of different elements of the criminal justice system, but also, importantly, to the role of mass mobilisation in the fight against crime.

We reaffirmed our commitment to the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law, and the principle of equality before the law, following the January 7th NEC meeting. The NEC stated that these principles require that the institutions of state are able to fulfil their constitutional mandate without fear or favour, as it requires them to respect the rights and dignity of all individuals charged or under investigation.

As we closed Conference a few weeks ago, we called on all ANC branches to actively lead, champion and facilitate crime prevention strategies. In reviving the culture of mass mobilisation, we must seek active partnerships with civil society, non-governmental organisations, community-based organisation and all other formations, to form a broad front against crime and all social ills afflicting our communities.

We will seek to work with religious formations and traditional leadership throughout the country - from urban areas to the countryside, to intensify the struggle against crime. We also acknowledge and appreciate the ongoing contribution of the business sector in the fight against this scourge.

As stated at Conference, we should look again at the positive role that street committees could play in making our neighbourhoods safer places, with the addition of village committees. We need to also support and encourage participation in Community Safety Forums so that they become centres of coordination.

We must consolidate south-south relations through, among other things, continued engagement with India, Brazil and China.
 * THERE SHALL BE PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP!**

Through our involvement in the African Union and other multilateral bodies, and through bilateral interaction with other parties, we need to do what we can to assist the peaceful resolution of all remaining conflicts on the continent and promote the building of democratic institutions.

We remain steadfast in our opposition to interference with the democratic right of people to elect a government of their choice, to vote rigging, or any dishonest means of attaining power.

As we meet, we are bound to express our deep concern at the situation in Kenya, which has severe political, social, economic and humanitarian implications.

We need, as Conference has resolved, to embark on a programme to strengthen the progressive movement in Africa and formalise relations with the global progressive movement in particular Latin America and East Asia. This should include efforts to hold a meeting of progressive parties and movements in Africa, with a view to holding an international meeting of progressive parties and movements across the globe within the next five years.

Within this context, we welcome the revival of the Pan African Women's Organisation (PAWO), of which the ANC Women's Section was among the founder members in 1962. We therefore look forward to hosting the next conference of PAWO in South Africa on 14-17 February 2008.

There should be a mass political education campaign to be undertaken at branch level within six months to report back on the Conference.
 * TASKS OF THE MOVEMENT**

In the January 8th statement 2007, we noted that, as the most basic and most important structure of the ANC, our branches, must receive the support and assistance of all levels of the organisation. This, we said, requires the involvement of all cadres of the movement, wherever they may be located or deployed, in the activities of the branch.

Through years of experience, we know that the surest way to build an organisation is through political work that involves all its members. We must therefore prioritise mass campaigns at a local level. Our branches need to be involved in the daily struggles of our people, providing leadership in popular campaigns to confront the challenges that most directly affect our people.

Another of the key organisational priorities for the next five years, to which we need to attend during the course of this year, is the establishment of the Political School. It should focus on cadre development, facilitating continuous accumulation of knowledge, and contributing to the ideological renewal of the movement.

During 2008, work needs to be undertaken to build the capacity of regions and provinces to run and deliver political education courses on a mass scale for branches, with curriculum development, training materials and training of facilitators done centrally; and with modernised methods of delivery, including distance education technology.

The role of the masses as their own liberators remains fundamentally important as we deepen and consolidate the national democratic revolution. The commitment of COSATU and the SACP to the Alliance serves as a strong basis to confront the challenges facing us. The ANC commits itself to leave no stone unturned, starting with the planned Alliance Summit, to unify the Alliance and to ensure that it remains a coherent movement. We must set out a programme for mass mobilisation and political education aimed at placing the masses to the centre of our strategy. We must build the women's movement into a mass movement for all women, particularly the poor and the working class.
 * STRENGTHEN THE ALLIANCE AND DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT**

We must also build a vibrant trade union movement working with our ally, COSATU. Millions of workers do not enjoy the rights enshrined in the Constitution and our labour laws as they have been casualised or sub-contracted. Farm and domestic workers still do not enjoy the many rights granted to all workers.

We take this opportunity to pay tribute to the patriots who passed away during the past year. Among those who made an outstanding contribution to the struggle for freedom and dignity for all in South Africa who left us in the last year are Comrades Adelaide Tambo, Alven Bennie, Percy Sonn, Norman Mashabane, Edgar Ngoyi, Temba Wellington Sobandla, Eve Hall, Dickson Fuyani, Andile Yawa, Barney Tiyo, Ntai Mokoena, Thandi Mtsweni, Johanna Jiyane, Rider Mofokeng, Yunus Mahomed, Slumber Jayiya, Flora Masakona, Billy Sehlapelo, Mlungisi Sisulu and Leslie Monnanyane.
 * TRIBUTES**

In honouring these heroes of our revolution, and to deepen and accelerate the vision to which they dedicated their lives, the ANC National Executive Committee declares 2008, **"The Year of Mass Mobilisation to Build a Caring Society. Advance in Unity Towards 2012".**