ANC 55TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE RESOLUTIONS
SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
1. INTRODUCTION
1. We move from the premise that the African National Congress is the leader of society charged with the mammoth task of leading the National Democratic Revolution. The main objective of the National Democratic Revolution is to build a democratic, non-racial and non-sexist society in which all citizens enjoy a better life, and are guaranteed political, social, economic, cultural and religious rights as enshrined in our Constitution.
2. Part of the tasks that the ANC has to undertake in spearheading the National Democratic Revolution is to implement a radical social transformation programme geared towards ending poverty, unemployment and inequality.
3. The strategic objective of social transformation is to transform and build a new society that is peaceful, equal and just as envisioned in the Freedom Charter, Ready to Govern policy document, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the National Development Plan Vision 2030, the UN Agenda 2030 and Africa’s Agenda 2063.
4. Our primary focus is on prioritising the rights of all women, youth, children, people with disabilities, marginalised groups as well as the previously disadvantaged people. Our aim is to work tirelessly in reducing discrimination and violence against all women and children, and foster gender equality in every level of society.
5. We seek to ensure equal access to quality basic services such as water, sanitation and human settlements and facilitating social protection to vulnerable social groups in our society.
6. The ANC has an on-going duty to achieve social cohesion and accelerate the project of nation building. This will help create a just and inclusive society that draws on South Africa’s rich heritage.
7. The National Policy Conference, held in July 2022 reaffirmed the correctness and relevance of the Social Transformation Resolutions taken at the 54th National Conference, and resolved to strengthen resolutions focusing on gender-based violence, women, youth, people with disability, the LGBTQIA+, human settlements, water and sanitation, basic income grant, sport, arts and culture. These are the areas on which the 55th National Conference deliberated and took resolutions.
8. Below are the final Social Transformation Resolutions as adopted by the ANC 55th National Conference.
2. SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION RESOLUTIONS
(a) Gender-based Violence and Femicide
Noting,
1. Gender-based violence remains the ugly face of patriarchy, because of patriarchal control over women lives and bodies. GBVF also covers hate crimes. Struggles for women’s emancipation have therefore always focused on the fight against rape, domestic violence and sexual harassment, and for breaking the silence around these issues. Moreover, gender-based violence and femicide have become endemic and a global pandemic, affecting 1 out of 3 women during her lifetime. According to the UN Women, “most violence against women is perpetrated by current or former husbands or intimate partners and of those who have been in a relationship, almost one in four adolescent girls aged 15-19 (24 percent) have experienced physical and and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner or husband”.
2. Although intimate partner killings and violence against women have always been with us, South Africa over the last couple of years have seen a spike in gruesome killings of women, and hence the characterisation of this a Femicide. Following the 2018 march by women activists against the high levels of gender-based violence and femicide in the country, a Presidential Summit to address the issue raised was held in 2018.
The Declaration outlining critical recommendations that emerged was adopted. Consequently, one of the recommendations of developing a National Strategic Plan on Gender Based Violence and Femicide (NSP: GBVF) was achieved, and the NSP: GBVF was adopted in March 2020. The NSP seeks to provide a multi-sectoral, coherent strategic policy and programming framework to strengthen a coordinated national response to the crisis of GBVF, or what came to be known as the “Second Scourge in 2020”. It comprises six main pillars that seek to address governance and institutional issues: prevention, response and care, improving economic resilience and self-reliance to decrease vulnerability to GBVF, advocacy, awareness raising and communications as well as research and knowledge management.
3. Parliament passed the following laws to combat GBVF:
■ The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act – This law seeks to strengthen the regulation of the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO) by expanding the scope of (NRSO) to include the particulars of all sex offenders. Not only sex offenders to children and persons with mental disabilities, but also expand to include other vulnerable groups, which are young women, persons with physical, mental sensory or intellectual disabilities and persons over 60.
■ The Domestic Violence Amendment Act – It seeks to address practical challenges, gaps and anomalies, which have manifested themselves since the Act was introduced in 1999, and which render all women and children helpless to the violence they experience, often in the confines of their homes.
■ The Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Act – It aims to amend four Acts, namely, the Magistrates’ Courts Act 32 of 1944, the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977, the Criminal Law Amendment Act 85 of 1997 and the Superior Courts Act 7 of 2013. The Act’s purpose is to amend the Magistrate’s Courts Act to provide for the appointment of intermediaries and the giving of evidence through intermediaries in proceedings other than criminal proceedings. It also seeks to amend the Criminal Procedure Act to regulate the granting and cancellation of bail and the right of a complainant in a domestic-related offence to participate in parole proceedings. It seeks to amend the Criminal Law Amendment Act to regulate sentences in respect of offences that have been committed against vulnerable persons; amend the Superior Courts Act to provide for the appointment of intermediaries and the giving of evidence through intermediaries in proceedings other than criminal.
4. Further measures have been taken to combat GBVF including:
(a) Government in partnership with the UN Women created a multi-sectoral collaborative platform called “END GBVF Collective”, which is South Africa’s biggest single volunteer network in tackling the scourge of GBVF. It creates space for stakeholders from government, civil society, development agencies and private citizens to think and plan together.
(b) An Inter-Ministerial Committee against GBVF has been created in Government comprised of the Ministers of Women, Youth and People with Disabilities, Social Development, Police, Justice and Correctional Services, Public Service and Administration, and National Treasury. The IMC together with the Parliamentary Oversight Framework aims to ensure a coordinated approach in addressing GBVF in the country.
(c) Government departments and civil society organisations have developed the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and Plan, which is used by departments in reporting progress on their implementation of the NSP: GBVF.
(d) The Comprehensive National GBVF Prevention Strategy was developed and approved for implementation.
(e) The Department of Women, Youth and People with Disabilities is localising the NSP: GBVF by ensuring its integration into local plans of provinces and municipalities.
(f) Thirteen Rapid Response Teams have been established focusing on GBVF hotspots in the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal.
(g) Substantial work has been done in establishing the National Council on Gender Based Violence and Femicide (NCGBVF). The draft Bill on the National Council has been developed and widely consulted on. It is currently at NEDLAC for consultation and once finalised, it will be processed through Cabinet for gazetting and tabling in Parliament. A GBVF Secretariat has also been established in the interim.
5. The Department of Social Development implements programmes to support victims and survivors of GBVF, including rolling out Thuthuzela Care Centres and Khuseleka One Stop Centers to provide safety to the victims and survivors in every Province linked to the National Gender Based Command Centre
6. However, despite the above interventions to fight GBVF, the scourge of violence against all women has not abated. Instead, it has degenerated into a crisis of unparalleled proportions. In the months leading to the National Policy Conference our nation was petrified by increasing media headlines of horrible incidents of GBVF. The alleged rape of a group of young female artists by a criminal gang called “Zama-zamas” made up of foreigners in Krugersdorp on the eve of the Conference clearly demonstrated the need for further stringent measures to contain the scourge.
Believing,
1. All people have the right to live in peace and security.
2. No one has the right to commit acts of violence against other people.
3. Measures are in place to deal with perpetrators of violence against all women and children.
4. Government has an obligation to protect victims and survivors of gender-based violence and to apply strict measures against perpetrators.
5. Government, business, labour and civil society share common interests in ending gender-based violence and femicide.
Resolve to,
1. Enhance the justice system response to GBVF cases:
(a) Establish special courts for GBVF.
(b) Establish sexual crimes unit within SAPS
(c) Rape must be legislated as a capital crime to remove the discretion that judges have in dealing with cases of rape
(d) Do not provide bail to sex offenders.
(e) There should be no bail and parole for perpetrators for GBVF.
(f) Police need to undergo sensitivity training to be able to manage GBVF cases.
(g) Rape kits must be available in police stations.
(h) Increase the number of police dealing with sexual crimes in police stations.
(i) Establish and resource DNA labs in every province to reduce the time taken in releasing these DNA tests.
(j) Appoint specialist investigators to deal with these cases.
2. The ANC must champion the rollout and implementation of National Strategic Plan on GBVF
3. Continue to support GBVF victims and survivors even in cases where our own members are perpetrators.
4. ANC leaders must be vocal and lead campaigns on GBVF such as “Not in My Name”.
5. All ANC structures must have a GBVF sub-committee and must use street committee to fight the scourge.
6. Consider other forms of societal interventions which may include rehabilitation or any other treatment that will prevent perpetrators of GBVF to commit these heinous crimes. This should be accompanied by strengthening the justice system to avoid false rape accusations.
7. Facilitate the provision of housing to victims and survivors of GBVF rather than keeping them in places of safety for six months only to release them back to perpetrators.
8. The ANC through its structures must combat the use of religion by sexual perpetrators.
9. Work with local, provincial and national civil society organisations, community based and faith based organisations including business in propagating against GBVF.
10. Ensure that GBVF is mainstreamed within the District Development Model and ensure the resourcing of safe shelters (Thuthuzela Centres and Khuseleka One Stop Centres).
11. Undertake a study to determine the link between drug abuse and the increase in GBVF.
12. Provide gender transformative training to address toxic masculinity in society to address patriarchy and integrate positive masculinity. Educate young people on Ubuntu, diversity and inclusive society to combat negative aspect of patriarchy.
13. Explore the development of IT applications and systems to assist victims and survivors to call for help.
14. Upscale social behavioural change programmes in dealing with GBVF.
15. Upscale the use of initiation schools as a platform to educate boys about GBVF.
16. Introduce family programmes on GBVF and involve communities in dialogues. Introduce programmes on positive masculinity.
17. Address lack of productive activity as this often leads men to alcohol and drug abuse including aggression against all women.
18. Mental health in situations of broken families also contributes to GBVF and hate crimes. Consider amongst other antidotes, the use of community-based mental health treatment.
19. The Department of Home Affairs and SAPS must collaborate in addressing the issue of high number of illegal migrants to combat their involvement in crime, especially against women.
20. The Social Transformation and Peace and Stability clusters should collaborate in dealing with the challenge of illegal and undocumented migrants. Make or strengthen agreements with the affected neighbouring states to ensure that these countries take responsibility for their nationals.
21. Introduce gender as part of schooling curriculum especially from primary school onwards. (we have Life Skills but it’s not broad enough to cover gender stereotypes and toxic masculinity, etc).
(b) Other Issues Affecting Women
Noting,
1. The Strategy and Tactics document of the ANC (2017) recognises that amongst the primary contradictions, which the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) must resolve are the legacies of apartheid colonialism, super-exploitation and patriarchy. Women are therefore counted amongst the motive forces necessary for the advancement of the NDR.
2. Our approach to the national democratic revolution and women’s emancipation therefore is anchored on the triple oppression of women, and therefore:
(a) Acknowledges women’s empowerment and gender equality in the context of the history of women, including women’s struggles against colonialism, struggles against land dispossession, pass laws and social, economic and political injustices, as reflected in the 1954 Women’s Charter and in the Freedom Charter.
(b) Highlights the emergence of gender inequalities in the context of the evolution of society, especially with regards to the development of capitalism, the industrial revolution and property acquisition.
(c) Traces the global evolution of gender equality agenda and of the international women’s movement.
(d) Regards the Women’s Charter for Effective Equality and the National Gender Policy Framework as pivotal in gender transformation of South Africa; and
(e) Acknowledges that the 50/50 representation policy of the ANC has permeated throughout government, and is gaining momentum across all sectors.
3. Significant legislative and institutional mechanisms have been introduced to cater for gender equality, women’s empowerment and non-sexism. These includes;
(a) The Founding Provisions and the Bill of Rights, as enshrined in Chapter 1 and 2 of the Constitution of the Republic (Act 108 of 1996), establish the rights of women in South Africa. The Reconstruction and Development Programme mainstreamed non-sexism and women’s emancipation, highlighting the need to tackle women’s unpaid labour, employment, discrimination; credit constraints for women, inadequate early child care and education; gender discrimination in law enforcement and treatment of offenders; discriminatory treatment on the basis of marital status or pregnancy; and insufficient public health services.
(b) During the first ten years after 1994 South Africa was at the forefront of some of the most progressive gender equality legislation in the world, including laws and policies on:
(i) Reproductive rights and on termination of pregnancy, access to free health care for pregnant women, sexual orientation, and the rights of women under customary law;
(ii) Protection of women workers rights through progressive labour laws including maternity leave, right not to be discriminated on the basis of gender, and affirmative action;
(iii) Advancing women’s economic and social empowerment through legislation and related policies, charters and quotas;
(iv) Women’s access to justice and protection against domestic violence, sexual offences, rape and harassment.
(v) Laws adopted since 1994 are amended regularly to further entrench women’s empowerment and equality. Such amendments include the principle of equal pay for work of equal value and providing workplaces that are free of harassment.
(c) The national gender machinery evolved from the Office on the Status of Women established in 1997 to a fully-fledged Department of Women, Youth and People with Disabilities, which serves as the nerve centre that promotes and protects the socio-economic rights and empowerment of all women and girls. It also amongst others, implements the NSP: GBVF, the Gender Responsive Planning, Budgeting, Monitoring and Evaluation, as well as the Gender Auditing Framework. The Commission for Gender Equality has been established as an independent Chapter 9 Institution in terms of the Constitution to promote respect for gender equality and protect, develop and attain gender equality. A Parliamentary Portfolio Committee for Women comprising members of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces has also been created to perform oversight role on gender transformation.
(d) Gender mainstreaming is happening across Government to mitigate potential, unintentional gender bias and helps to produce better gender equality outcomes.
(e) Significant achievements have been made in the representation of women in Government and Parliament although more needs to be done to improve representation within the ANC structures. Women in Cabinet currently constitute 50%.
(f) Government has introduced a range of policies and programmes designed to facilitate women’s economic empowerment, to provide business resources, information and opportunities for South African women entrepreneurs, as well as a range of interventions designed to achieve gender equality. Government has also announced that as part of its commitment to gender equality and financial inclusion, it will expand access of women to economic opportunities by setting aside 40% of preferential public procurement for women owned businesses. Gender pay gap however, persists with women continuing to be paid less for similar work done by male counterparts. For example, Banyana Banyana national football team continues to be paid less than Bafana Bafana even though their performance surpasses that of Bafana Bafana.
(g) The private sector, civil society, women’s organisations, businesswomen and government have collaborated to form the Women Economic Assembly (WECONA) to address one pillar of the NSP: GBVF focusing on economic empowerment of women to reduce their vulnerability to GBVF.
(h) Government adopted the Sanitary Dignity Implementation Framework in October 2020 to provide for policy with norms and standards with respect to the provision of sanitary dignity products and services to indigent women and girls. The Minister of Finance announced the zero-rated vat on sanitary towels effective April 2019.
4. However, despite these significant achievements made as stated above, women continue to face daunting challenges that hamper their full enjoyment of their rights. Amongst these challenges are:
(a) Continued prevalence of patriarchy
(b) Challenges in meeting gender targets
(c) Inability to outgrow informal sector trading;
(d) Limited access to finance;
(e) Excessive red tape for informal trading which is dominated by women;
(f) Under-representation of women in management in small to big enterprises.
(g) Gender mainstreaming lags behind in the private sector;
(h) Many girls do not have access to sanitary services.
Believing,
1. Gender equality, women empowerment and non-sexism are enshrined in the founding documents of the ANC.
2. The Freedom Charter declares on the issue of gender pay gap that “men and women of all races shall receive equal pay for equal work”.
3. The principle of 50/50 representation in all ANC structures is an established policy of the ANC.
4. Sufficient body of laws, policies and programmes are in place to promote gender equality, women empowerment and non-sexism.
5. Women must continue to be at the forefront of their struggles to ensure maximum realisation of their objectives.
Resolve,
1. Promote women’s voice and agency and address negative social norms and patriarchal practices, including religious norms and practices.
2. The principle of 50/50 must apply across all the structures of the ANC from top to bottom including the top six.
3. The ANC Government needs to domesticate the SADC protocol it signed in 1997 to ensure that the issue of 50/50 becomes law.
4. The ANC Government should consider legislation to close the pay gap between men and women in both public and private sector
5. Financial sector transformation must factor in gender mainstreaming.
6. Government should engage the private sector to ensure that it also implements gender programmes.
7. Increase support for SMMEs, township and village economies and cooperatives especially those managed by women.
8. Implement mass public employment programmes for women and the youth.
9. The ANC must continue to drive policies that will ensure that land is made available especially to land-hungry black persons, including women and the youth, who genuinely want to engage in productive agricultural activity.
10. Barriers to access to land in rural areas for women should be addressed and land distribution for housing purposes should be prioritised.
11. The Social Housing policy by Government should prioritise women headed households alongside child headed households, people with disability and the elderly.
12. Decriminalise sex work and enable access to justice by sex workers.
13. Deal harshly with people who claim false rape.
14. Provide free menstrual and hygiene products in schools, clinics and community centres.
15. Government should introduce gender biased budgeting to ensure effective implementation of gender-based programmes.
16. The Department of Labour should consider penalising departments that fail to meet employment equity targets for women.
17. The ANC, Government and structures such as traditional authorities, should ensure that their performance reports also reflect performance on meeting gender targets. Portfolio committees in legislatures should also ensure reporting on gender targets.
18. There is need to move from advocacy to action and begin developing programmes that advance women’s issues.
19. Women in leadership need to empower other women.
20. ANC caucuses need to deal with women issues.
21. Revise the curriculum to address issues of patriarchy, gender roles, stereotypes, masculinity and femininity constructs.
22. Ensure that gender sensitivity training is made compulsory to all members of the ANC and all employees in government.
23. The OR Tambo School of Leadership should introduce modules that focuses on gender transformation.
24. Implementation of women sport policy to, amongst other things, ensure that women are funded to participate across all the sporting codes, especially those from disadvantaged communities.
25. Consider introducing sports ticketing levy to fund sports development.
26. Disqualify ANC comrades who abuse women and children.
(c) Youth
Noting,
1. Poor economic performance and unemployment is producing a pool of youth most of whom end up exposed to drug abuse, crime and other social ills. This includes students who are academically qualified to enter the job market but cannot find work. In the end, the state is forced to play a bigger role in addressing these social ills.
2. The Department of Women, Youth and People with Disabilities (DWYPD) has introduced an internship programme which offer valuable exposure for graduates while the Department of Higher Education offers Career Development Services to the youth.
3. The DWYPD and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) have developed a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework as well as an Integrated Youth Development Strategy (IYDS). The M&E Framework would track implementation of the approved National Youth Policy (NYP) 2030 and provide for high-level indicators, whereas the IYDS will provide for integrated actions to give effect to implementation of the youth policy.
4. The NYDA is collaborating with the Presidency on the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYI), which is amongst others, focussed on developing the SAYouth.Mobi – a national network, managed by Harambee and offering young South Africans, free access to learning and earning opportunities. This is a data free platform, which is developed as a partnership between government and civil society organisations.
5. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the NYDA introduced the Youth Micro Enterprise Relief Fund for particularly young entrepreneurs affected by Covid-19. The fund targeted a niche community of youth micro enterprises, which might have been missed by other relief funds.
Believing,
1. The youth are the future.
2. Government must invest in the education of the youth.
3. Government has a responsibility to remove barriers to entry for the youth wishing to pursue higher education and entry into the job market.
4. The panacea to removing youth from alcohol and drugs is the provision of social amenities, education and job creation.
5. Investing in the youth is investing in the leaders of tomorrow. Government has a responsibility to provide support mechanisms to the youth to unlock their potential.
Resolve,
1. The current mandate of the Ministry and the Department of Women, Youth and People with Disability is still relevant in its current form and its mandate must be expanded to include the LGBTQIA+ community. Departments and entities should continue to prioritise youth mainstreaming.
2. Government needs to develop, fund and implement tangible programmes that deal with youth issues such as education, challenges of unemployment, alcohol and drug abuse, availability of sports and recreational facilities as well as economic opportunities
3. Municipalities should ensure the provision of recreational facilities for the youth, explore new funding models including the introduction of public private partnerships for the building and maintenance of youth recreational facilities.
4. Stringent measures should be taken against training coaches who abuse the youth in training facilities.
5. Review policy and legislation to limit access to alcohol to curb underage drinking by youth.
6. Review school curriculum to cover issues of moral decay, socialisation, skills development, discipline, patriotism, inclusivity and diversity.
7. Sports, arts and culture must be compulsory at primary and secondary schools.
8. Government should ensure that youth enjoy access to free higher and tertiary education. Government should avail more TVET and technical high schools in its quest to re-introduce vocational training to schools.
9. Sufficient funding should be made available to fund empowerment and development opportunities for youth.
10. Isolate and find solution to the challenge of teenage pregnancy.
11. Improve the safety and security of young people, many of whom die from unnatural causes.
12. The NYDA working with the Presidency and the Ministry and the Department of Women, Youth and People with Disability has enough capacity to address challenges of the youth and improve their quality of lives. It is for this reason that both the NYDA and the Department should be allocated more funding to ensure that young people are serviced.
(d) Children
Noting,
1. Our focus on children is on the protection, care, support, promotion of rights of children and development.
2. The 16 Days of Activism of No Violence against Women and Children has been extended to make it a 365 days programme noting rising challenges against women and children. This is over and above other programmes on Children that the Department of Social Development and its stakeholders run.
3. Protocols have been developed on Child Abuse that guide social service practitioners on how to deal with Child Abuse, Neglect and Protection.
4. Nationwide campaigns such as Children’s Parliament are held annually to allow children to raise concerns through their Ambassadors, which is part of the Child Participation through monitoring the implementation of the Children’s Manifesto.
5. The Department of Social Development has developed a Strategy for Street Children and the aim is to make provision for uniform and standard therapeutic interventions for these children.
Believing,
1. Children have rights that are affirmed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
2. Government has an obligation to protect children’s rights and to advance their interests.
Resolve,
1. Government needs to relax the requirements for caregivers of orphans in the care of relatives and those orphans in child headed households so that they are not disadvantaged to access services and opportunities.
2. The ANC must champion the rollout and implementation of National Programme of Children : Framework as enacted
3. Stronger enforcement of maintenance for children and teaching men and boys about their responsibilities as fathers.
4. Government should resuscitate early childhood development centres bearing in mind the challenges of households that do not have income. The first two to three years of child’s development are most important for development. Government must step in earlier than grade R to provide support to children. From two years children should be able to attend registered crèches and on to nursery school.
(e) People with Disability, the LGBTQIA+ Community and Other Marginalised Groups
Noting,
1. Government has taken measures to address issues of concern to people with disabilities, the LGBTQIA+ community and other marginalised groups. Government departments are required to ensure 2% employment of people with disabilities in the public service with the Department of Monitoring and Evaluation and Parliament playing a monitoring role to ensure that this is implemented.
2. Measures have been taken to ensure that public buildings are user friendly to people with disabilities, including the frequent use of sign language and braille for those affected.
3. The LGBTQIA+ community and other marginalised groups are also recognised and given space to articulate their concerns, although much needs to be done to enable the amplification of their voice. In addition, more needs to be done to address their discrimination and safety including recognition of their special needs.
Believing,
1. All people are born equal and are equal before the law;
2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights enshrined in the Constitution irrespective of race, gender, nationality and religion or cultural believe.
3. The state has a responsibility to be biased towards disadvantaged and marginalised groups and that it has added responsibility to ensure their enjoyment of all their rights including the right to life, choice, privacy and security.
4. Government is obliged to involve these groups on any decisions that affect them.
5. The principle of “nothing about us without us” is an important reminder to Government and other stakeholders about the value of consultation particularly on matters affecting these social groups.
Resolve,
1. The ANC and Government should take measures to ensure that all their buildings are accessible to people with disabilities.
2. Consider sanctioning Government departments and private sector institutions that fail to meet employment targets for people with disability.
3. Establish an ANC LGBTQIA+ committee and ensure adequate representation of LGBTQIA+ members within the structures of the ANC.
4. Issues affecting the LGBTQIA+ community should be addressed within the ANC structures and not subsumed within the Department of Women, Youth and People with Disabilities.
5. Include issues affecting the LGBTQIA+ community in the curriculum of the OR Tambo School of Leadership.
6. Integrate intersectional language in quota language.
7. Pass legislation that bans conversion practices (harmful practices and efforts that seek to change people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity).
8. ANC to lead in partnership with the LGBTQIA+ community the campaigns to eradicate homophobia and transphobia.
9. Ensure that Government develops and implements minimum standards of services guidelines for LGBTQIA+ people (particularly in health, education, justice and social protections) while effecting a non-discriminative framework within Government.
10. Ensure that the 3rd legal gender recognition policy is passed.
11. Address genital mutilation experienced by intersex children at birth.
12. The SA Government must explore hosting the World Gay Games.
13. Measures should be explored to protect elderly people in the homes who are vulnerable to abuse and rape.
(f) Human Settlements
Noting,
1. Globally 1 billion people live in slums in 161 countries. More than 30% of the urban population live in slums and informal settlements. The number of informal settlements dwellers has been growing on an average of 9 million since 2000. Since the dawn of democracy in 1994, about 4.8 million houses have been delivered in South Africa providing safe shelter to over 25% of South Africa’s households.
2. The ANC Government has produced more houses than any other developing country in the world. Hence the UN recognition and award for the delivery of housing.
3. A total of 136 Priority Human Settlements and Development Areas (PHSHDAs) were identified in 2020, which would promote integrated human settlements and spatial restructuring. Twelve social housing projects were gazetted to support the objectives of the priority development areas. Over 80% of the human settlements budget will progressively be invested in these areas. Work is under way to complete the first 41 area-based plans and to implement the related projects.
4. The NHFC distributed FLISP subsidies of R60 million to 1 167 households in the 2019/20 financial year alone. A total of 717 houses for military veterans was delivered between 2018 to 2020 financial year. In 2016/17 a total of 1 700 houses had been delivered.
5. The construction sector contributes 3% to South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product and employs around 1.3 million people. Although the sector was brought to a halt by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Human Settlements has been consistently spending its budgets, which stimulate construction activities in the sector. A total of R33.3 billion of the Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG) housing allocation was spent in 2019/20 alone resulting in the provision of 116 292 housing opportunities. A total of R11.6 billion Urban Settlement Development Grant (USDG) was allocated to provinces during the same financial year.
6. On the land release programme, the Department through the Housing Development Agency (HDA) has facilitated the acquisition of several land parcels from state-owned companies such as Transnet, Denel, ESKOM and PRASA. To date a total of 3 089.63 hectares of well-located land targeting poor and middle-income households has been acquired or released for human settlement development. The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure agreed to release a total of 1128.5345 hectares of land for human settlement development while 14241.1540 hectares of land have been identified and are currently being processed for release. The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform has on the other hand released over 13113.1309 hectares of land for human settlement development while 4835.04 hectares are currently being processed for release.
7. On empowerment of women, 23% of both the HSDG and the USDG funding was allocated to women-owned businesses against the set target of 30%. Allocation to youth-owned businesses under the Youth Economic Empowerment Programme reached the set target of 10%.
8. The Department of Human Settlements is reviewing and strengthening the following legislative instruments to strengthen the implementation of its human settlements programmes; Housing Consumer Protection, Human Settlement Development Bank, Property Practitioners, Amendment of Home Loan and Mortgage Disclosure, and Amendment of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land.
9. Despite the ANC Government’s rapid human settlements development programme, we have not been able to arrest the housing backlog.
10. Increased urban migration and the rapid growth in household sizes, has led to increased informal settlements that have affected Government’s ability to arrest the housing backlog. This is further complicated by reduced financial resources that continue to limit our efforts to house our people.
11. Lack of suitably located land continues to hamper speedy planning and development of human settlements.
12. Criminal syndicates are hampering implementation of some of our human settlements projects while in some areas these syndicates are hijacking blocks of flats.
13. The lack of security of tenure for people living on communal land areas is a problem that still plague many of our people across the country.
14. Given the reality of Climate Change, which has become a global emergency, the ANC is conscious of the socio-economic challenges that it causes to societies and households and strongly believes that there should be enhanced coordination, education, early warning mechanisms as well as ensure the availability of social relief measures to households to avert the negative impact to society.
Believing,
1. The Freedom Charter declares that “there shall be houses, security and comfort” and that all people shall have the right to live where they choose, be decently housed and to bring up their families in comfort and security”.
2. The Constitution guarantees everyone access to housing and obliges the state to take incremental measures to meet the housing needs of its people.
3. The ANC Government has adequate policies and programmes to meet people’s housing needs.
4. Involvement of people in the building of their houses has added advantages.
5. The integrated human settlements approach and the District Development Model are the ideal implementation platforms that can effectively coordinate all stakeholders and resources across the three spheres of Government in realising integrated and functional human settlements.
Resolve,
1. Support the refinement of human settlements policies that strengthens Government’s provision of housing to the people and assess the sustainability of the national housing subsidy programme
2. There is a need to continue to implement spatial planning for human settlements to transform our towns and cities.
3. Government should continue to implement integrated human settlements programme wherein housing is delivered together with appropriate socio-economic amenities.
4. Government must use the District Development Model to address the prioritisation of land for human settlements development.
5. Government to avail serviced residential stands for people who are able to build for themselves in order to address the gap in housing need.
6. Government needs to speedily address the root-causes impacting on completion of blocked and unfinished housing projects.
7. Ensure that building contractors are vetted before they begin construction work.
8. Strengthen the oversight role played by construction project managers in supervising housing construction.
9. Implement structured support to black-owned companies in the housing and residential property sector: meaningful participation of SMMEs in the housing unit production value chain must be ensured – this support is to also include capacitation of SMMEs to equip them in delivering quality projects on time, whilst ensuring that local SMMEs benefit from the implementation of preferential procurement.
10. Government should take firm measures to remove illegal occupants of Government funded housing.
11. Government should address the prevalent illegal take-over of towns and the hijacking of buildings by foreign nationals. This includes addressing the stoppage of housing projects by criminal syndicates who demand bribes or shares in the projects.
12. Make use of accredited alternative building technologies in the housing development projects.
(g) Water and Sanitation
Noting,
1. Approximately 2.8 million households in South Africa do not have access to improved sanitation services. The ANC has resolved to eradicate the bucket system in order to improve sanitation services. By December 2020, a total of 41 290 out of 52 249 bucket sanitation systems were eradicated. Furthermore, a total of 14 235 rural households were served to eradicate sanitation backlogs.
2. The DWS has developed the Water and Sanitation Master Plan, which provides a 10-year roadmap for eradicating the bucket system, providing adequate sanitation, innovative solutions and generating economic opportunities.
3. DWS provides the Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG), which is used to assist municipalities to procure intermediate water supply to ensure the provision of service infrastructure (e.g. spring protection, drilling, testing and equipping of boreholes). Through this grant, 802 projects were funded for construction nationally, with 142 of these projects completed.
4. Some of our water resources are plagued by pollution while distribution of water to some communities is hamstrung by corruption at local government level. The use of the tankering system, which is supposed to be an emergency intervention, has become the fodder for corrupt practices in some municipalities.
Believing,
1. Access to clean water and sanitation is an inalienable right to all South Africans.
2. Government has a Constitutional obligation to ensure the delivery of basic services such as water and sanitation to the people.
3. Government also has an obligation to protect, preserve and efficiently manage all water resources of the country for the benefit of its citizens.
4. The Freedom Charter and the Constitution guarantees every person equal access to water.
5. Payment for municipal services is an established economic principle that enables continuous supply for these services, bearing in mind the indigent policy with regard to those who are not able to afford payment.
Resolve,
1. Government should expedite the eradication of the bucket system in informal settlements as a means of restoring the dignity of the majority of the black communities.
2. Ensure the rigours implementation of the National Water Masterplan
3. Government must fast-track the reviewing of water rights and issuing of water license to the benefit of all communities and balance the needs on all sectors.
4. Implement emergency plans during water crises such as droughts as part of rolling out disaster management plans.
5. Government should rollout alternative technology methods on sanitation to respond to environmental and global sustainable development goals.
6. Government should undertake campaigns on the importance of paying for services such as water and its efficient use, including stamping out corruption in the provision of water.
7. Given the reality of climate change, Government at all three spheres should enhance coordination efforts in line with the Disaster Management Act, put in place early warning mechanisms and ensure the availability relief measures to households.
(h) Basic Income Grant
Noting that:
1. Poverty, unemployment and inequality has left many of our people vulnerable to hunger.
2. The provision of social grants reduces poverty and contributes to the reduction of income inequality in the country.
3. Empirical evidence shows, for example, that the Child Support Grant (CSG) has delivered better nutritional outcomes due to increased access to food as well as educational outcomes including improved school attendance and educational attainment.
4. The Department of Social Development pays social grants to eligible South Africans through the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA). These social grants reach more than 18 million people at a cost of R220 billion a year.
5. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the DSD portfolio in consultation with other relevant stakeholders developed and implemented an additional special social relief package in 2020, consisting of the following:
■ A R250 per month increase to all grants, with the exception of the Child Support Grant (CSG), Grant in Aid and Social Relief of Distress (SRD);
■ A R500 per month caregiver allowance to all CSG caregivers; and
■ COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (cSRD) of R350 per month to adults aged 18-59 with no or low income.
6. Although the bulk of the relief package came to an end in October 2020; the COVID-19 SRD was extended, first to January 2021, then to April 2021 and further to March 2023; and now recently the provision has been extended to March 2024. This is in addition to existing social grants that government provides such as the Older Person’s Grant, the Disability Grant, the Care Dependency Grant and the Foster Child Grant.
7. The Covid-19 pandemic has amplified the importance of comprehensive social security as a measure to address poverty, particularly in the context of long-term structural unemployment and inequality, which have plagued the country even before the advent of the pandemic. Since there are social grants in place for children, the elderly and persons with disabilities, the focus must be on individuals in the 18-59 age group who are unable to support themselves.
8. The relief measures introduced during Covid-19 should continue to be used to cushion people who have no means of survival to create a permanent support mechanism for them.
9. Numerous research studies that have been conducted since the implementation of the cSRD, which was given to people living below the food poverty line to assist them through the COVID-19 pandemic, provided meaningful relief and it worked.
Believing that:
1. As the movement of the people, the ANC has an obligation to protect the interests of vulnerable people who do not have the means to support themselves.
2. Government already has a number of instruments and measures to address the socio-economic needs of vulnerable people, chief of which is the indigent policy, social protection policies such as grants, and more.
3. The much-discussed Basic Income Grant would be a welcome relief for the unemployed and vulnerable individuals in the country.
4. The BIG would help us to guarantee a minimum (basic income) to ensure that this vulnerable group has access to food and therefore enhance their standard of living which is a key aim of a comprehensive social security.
Therefore resolves that:
1. The ANC supports the introduction of the Basic Income Grant as a means to addressing the challenges of poverty and inequality, and further directs government to speedily work on the policy options and parameters that are acceptable, through broad consultation.
2. Government should continue the extension and improvement of the Social Relief of Distress Grant of R350 until the Basic Income Grant, is both feasible/affordable and sustainable, this should be linked to the food poverty line and progressively improved to the upper bound food poverty line.
3. In developing pathways to a Basic Income Grant the government should consider the detailed proposals on a BIG in the 2022 ANC Policy Conference Resolutions as a reference point.
4. Government should develop a strategy including through using the data registry system to promote access by working age unemployed grant recipients to some form of economic and development activity.
(i) Sport, Arts and Culture
Noting,
1. Sport in South Africa has become the defining characteristic of our nation building. Apart from this, there is absence of visibility of races other than Africans in major national events. Efforts should be made to make every South African feel proud to be South African, to be patriotic, and to love the country, its history and the diversity of its cultures and traditions. Sport has the capacity to transform society and a great deal of attention should be paid to this.
2. Community art showcases our cultural inheritance. It plays an important role in our tourism ecosystem especially in the rural areas. We commend the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture for funding community Arts Centres and urge more support to those who are not getting financial assistance.
Further noting:
3. The 2023 Netball World Cup (NWC) will be hosted for the first time on the African content. We note that the Local Organising Committee (LOC) chaired by Ms Patience Shikwambana, assisted by Ms. Cecilia Molokwane, the President of Netball South Africa, is fully supported by all three spheres of Government the Cape Metro which is the host city, the Western Cape Province and led by the Inter-Ministerial Committee convened by the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture at national level.
4. The ANC calls on all South Africans to support the LOC Netball Fridays campaign by, amongst others, wearing netball t-shirts.
Believing,
1. Sport is an important instrument for driving social cohesion and nation building.
2. South Africa is a home to a number of sport stars and has the potential to continue producing excellent sport stars.
3. Much more work needs to be done to build social cohesion and nation building through sport.
4. The country already have adequate sport infrastructure to host international sporting events.
5. Work of art conveys stories of the history of our diverse people and serve to present a unique identity of the country, while also stimulating local economic development.
Resolve,
1. Resuscitate ANC Branch Sub-Committees to guide Government intervention in sport, arts and culture as a means of building social cohesion in communities.
2. Advance the National Charter for Women and Sports South Africa (WASSA) to ensure sports stakeholders mainstream gender in their programmes and support for the sector to develop women sports and to strengthen its ecosystem from grassroots level to mainstream sports.
3. Strengthen school sport program, especially in the townships and rural schools. To this extent, we support the mechanism of complementing school sport system through the recently launched Sport Ambassadors program. All these effort will assist in cultivating healthy lifestyles and social cohesion.
4. The cultural and creative economy should integrate SMMEs and Cooperatives especially in rural areas, and particularly, women, youth, and persons with disabilities led enterprises to expose them to local and international market access opportunities.
5. Establish social cohesion advocate structures in all communities working with non-profit organisations and other sectors of society.
Financial and administrative support of the Moral Regeneration Movement must be availed to ensure that the Movement’s configuration is responsive to an array of social ills.
Produced by the ANC Department of Information and Publicity
Issued by the African National Congress, Chief Albert Luthuli House 54 Pixley Seme Street, Johannesburg, 3 March 2023
