ADDRESS BY BY THE OUT-GOING PROVINCIAL CHAIRPERSON OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS KWAZULU-NATAL, DR ZWELI MKHIZE, TO THE PGC, March 22 2013

Members of the National Executive Committee of the ANC

The deputy Chairperson;

Officials and members of the Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC and the ANC Women's League;

ANC Youth League and ANC Veterans League;

MKMVA;

Leaders of the Alliance;

SACP;

COSATU & SANCO;

The YCL;

Amandla !

I stand here before you with mixed feelings.

On the one side I feel a little sad to say farewell to the comrades in the structure that I have served in for almost twenty years, and to leave the comfort of the environment I have grown to understand well, even though we will still be working closely in my new responsibility.

On the other hand I stand with a strong sense of appreciation, gratitude and humility. I have served in the leadership of a legal African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal ever since I returned from exile.

I have served as the Branch Chairperson in Willowfountain since 1991 and was later that year elected as Regional Treasurer for three years in the Natal Midlands Region of the African National Congress before they were amalgamated.

As I am stepping down I have served in the Provincial Executive Committee for almost nineteen years-- as the first Provincial Treasurer since 1994, it's Deputy Chairperson since 1998 and the Provincial Chairperson since 2008, during which term I have served as a Member of the National Executive Committee since 1997.

I have been privileged to be part of the consistent core of leadership collective that steered the ANC after unbanning deepening the support in the province.

Through our strategy of 'Consolidate and Advance' we created pockets of ANC support and consolidated them into regions of ANC dominance and ultimately achieved hegemony in the entire province.

The presence of experienced and mature leaders of the ANC such as Cde Mdala Harry Gwala, President Jacob Zuma and many others, played a pivotal role in rooting the ANC in the province. These leaders taught us that leadership requires courage and focus to face the hostile environment. They taught us that ours was a principled cause to change society for the better and therefore nothing could stand on our way to freedom and democracy -- not even death. They taught us that unbanning did not mean peaceful acceptance of our struggle for freedom and that the violence after 1994 meant that democracy will continue to be challenged by forces opposed to our cause even when a democratically elected government is in office. It was clear that the ANC to campaign hard for every square metre of support against the onslaught of all the hostile overt and covert forces of darkness.

As first Provincial Chairperson Comrade Zuma played a significant role in grooming and shaping many of the KwaZulu-Natal leadership and building a strong culture of mutual respect and ability to work together and complement each other's strength while shielding the weaknesses. His humility as well as his understanding of the rural and urban divide enabled the ANC navigate the cultural environment and helped the expansion into rural traditional communities. He contributed to the growth of most of the leaders, tampering their passion and turning radicals into political strategists and helped ANC deal with opportunism, misconduct and unacceptable elements while emphasizing a decent sense of leadership for the people. We salute you Msholozi!

This leadership took a while to settle down and gel into a cohesive structure, after President Zuma had moved to take up national leadership post at the time. This was as a result of the leadership coming from the three original regions of the ANC, the Southern Natal, Northern Natal and Natal Midlands. This created dynamics that often showed themselves up in internal political dynamics and contests during conferences in which members coalesced around political figures after intensive bruising internal campaigns and caucusing.

What saved the ANC was that the issues revolved around matters of principle, leadership styles and approaches and not fundamental political policy or ideological differences. The most bruising was in 2002. This was wherein the conference was deteriorated into two hostile camps and started singing songs with each side denouncing one and praising the other of the two contenders for leadership position. This sobered all leadership up and caused a deep reflection to be undertaken.

The result was that leaders understood and trusted each other better and were better able to minimize divergence and asymmetry of views and resulted in a stronger and more formidable leadership which was focused on consolidating ANC gains and taking the ANC to all corners of the province. The lesson out of this experience was that if differences are as a result of political issues amongst ANC leaders, they can be solved through internal engagement.

We have since adopted an approach that no issue is too sensitive for leadership to discuss. Frankness, forthrightness and courage to confront and correct each other became our strength. It also became clear that confidential engagement yield more compliance than public rebuke amongst members of the leadership structures wherein the leadership openly reports to the membership on such matters. This ensured collective accountability in which the leadership would indicate how the sensitive matters have been dealt with instead of sweeping controversial matters under the proverbial carpet when members demand answers for leadership action or misconduct. All structures of the ANC were fully briefed on the resolution of all the issues that had split the regions and branches down the middle and the divisions healed through a branch to branch region to region campaign to restore normality.

The leadership was now able to iron out differences in the confidentiality of relevant structures and appeared each time with a united voice and clear sense of direction. As a result the ANC has developed a legacy of sound efficient internal administration. Long before we won, the ANC took a posture of a future majority and governing party in KwaZulu-Natal with everybody playing their role in building the ANC into a formidable party.

In 1997 three years after amalgamation, the ANC membership stood at 64 998. While the violence had receded in most provinces, in KwaZulu-Natal it was still rife, with extreme political intolerance and no-go zones in which an ANC T-shirt was a common cause of death. This limited the growth of the ANC.

Internal tension and an inward focused leadership could probably account for the drop in membership in 2002 to 53 531. After several cathartic sessions and leadership bonding, things began to change for the better. Thereafter membership has continued to swell to 75 035 by 2005 reaching 102 742 by the year 2007. By this time the infighting had completely stopped and the ANC march to victory was rewarded with the Premiership for the first time since 1994.

I have been proud to be part of his leadership collective for the role the comrades and community in the province has contributed to my own growth in the leadership of the African National Congress, in politics and in my personal life. I can say unashamedly and without fear of contradiction that I am the product of the ANC, which I have served for almost thirty five years (including under conditions of illegality in the underground and in exile).

KwaZulu-Natal has changed from the province I returned to when 22 years ago. The political violence that was sponsored by the apartheid regime, the murders that were committed by apartheid agents, the vigilantes armed by apartheid covert operations, assassinations, burning of homesteads and displacement of communities has ended.

The political intolerance orchestrated by warlords and agents of the apartheid operatives has been replaced by a peaceful province which is now the hub of social and economic development and a stable community of peace loving and democratically minded communities. The most dangerous place of the eighties and nineties has been transformed into the peace haven and destination of choice for global investors and holiday makers from all of South Africa.

For the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal peace was both an objective and a strategy. We had a mission to create a peaceful province as the objective and the ANC needed peace to grow. We campaigned hard to eliminate no go zones and ensured that our system of governance is rid of rogue police elements that were perpetrators of violence. Warlords were retired.

Through various peace initiatives and bilateral meetings between ANC and IFP the atmosphere of political intolerance was transformed to create a new spirit of open but peaceful competition and cooperation. We perfected the art of cooperating with the IFP while were competing for votes and expansion into new territories. We moved from the government of national unity to coalition government and later government by invitation and at last the province was matured for robust oppositional politics. We have also learnt to navigate through the partnership with NFP. The ANC has fifty one mayors and has less than ten municipalities controlled by other parties. We have identified capacity as the most important investment we must make to our public representatives.

In KwaZulu-Natal, democracy has matured. We have learned valuable lessons in building peaceful communities, reconciliation, how to achieve political tolerance and eliminate no-go zones. We have learnt lessons in running successful opposition politics, managing coalition government and running a successful government administration. Strange as it may sound the ANC in the province has learnt a lot from its own achievements and mistakes, as well as those of opposition parties. The greatest of all lessons for us is that strength of any leadership is to take lessons from all the political players and continuously improve.

We learnt not to focus on complaining about others but to use every challenge and obstacle on our way to sharpen our skills and rise to a higher level. Comrades will notice that we have learnt not to spend our valuable time telling our members about opposition parties but simply use most of our time to tell them about our plans and policies. This has paid out as you can see from the long path we have traversed from ANC that won 32% of voter support in 1994.

After we were persuaded by Madiba to abandon our complaint of fraud as a result of the many flaws in the 1994 national elections, the ANC has climbed to 40% in 1999, thereafter reached 48% in 2004. The IFP was dislodged from the 50% support it enjoyed in 1994 to become the opposition in 2004. This was the result of the combined strengthening of ANC leadership internally as well as sound relations within the Alliance Structures that also went out of their way to mobilize support for the African National Congress.

We have come a long way!

We have been part of change!

As ANC we would like to believe that we are the reason why change happened.

The ANC has grown the membership to 331024 in 2012 in response to the ANC resolution of 1942 that issued a call for ANC to reach ONE MILLION MEMBERS by 2012.

Political maturity, stability, effective management of government administration has brought the ANC in this province to be where we are. Hard work! Nothing else!

For those who wish to know -we shall ignore the others who out of ignorance and malice have been accusing our provincial leadership of all manner of unfounded allegations. They are not worth repeating to a decent audience such as you are.

One our greatest and most moving moments as members of this glorious movement was the privilege to host the Centenary Flame in this province in 2012. It was the most moving experience of our lives, evoking a mixture of deep feelings of pride, happiness, sadness and unearthed a painful moments as our memories reached deep into the buried past. It was an experience that brought together all lost and forgotten comrades, bonded all of us across the ethnic, racial, religious, class and all social divides. It reminded us about the commitment we made as we joined this movement and brought out vividly the truth that while so much has been achieved so much more needs to be done within the ANC as well as in society in general to attain that vision of a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic free and prosperous South Africa. When we handed the Centenary Flame to the neighboring Eastern Cape Province I remarked that "though the Centenary Flame is gone to the Eastern Cape, it's spirit remains in our hearts". We need to find a way to keep this spirit continuously with us.

Another most gratifying moment for KwaZulu-Natal was to be part of the 53rd conference of the African National Congress. Posterity will record the turning point that is critical in the life of our organisation since ascending to power in 1994. It had taken the ANC close to twenty years to absorb lessons provided by our ascendancy to power.

The first and important outcome of the Mangaung conference was to set the record straight that too many mistakes had occurred and culminated in the 52nd conference hosted in Polokwane. Lessons for leadership and membership alike meant that the ANC had to put it on record that mistakes of Polokwane must not be allowed to become the new culture of the ANC. The 53rd conference restored the dignity and the image of the ANC which had continued to be eroded by misconduct and ill-discipline in our ranks.

Mangaung conference reiterated the importance of the founding values of his movement; ie. humility, integrity, commitment to selfless service, honour, hard work, discipline, etc. as attributes of leadership. The conference emphasized on consistent, even handed, swift and firm action against ill-disciplined membership continuously bringing the ANC into disrepute especially getting involved in abuse of positions for personal gain or interest and subverting the democratic ethos in branches as well as getting involved in corruption, fraud and any conduct not befitting the stature of an elected leader of our people. Current decisions of the NEC are meant to implement both the spirit and the letter of the conference. We trust that comrades in KwaZulu-Natal will absorb the lessons carefully and not be found on the wrong side.

There is a wave to restore the ANC to its position as a trusted leader enjoying the confidence of society. The ANC is no longer prepared to tolerate any deviant behavior of any member irrespective of what their position is in the party or society. The recent experience has harmed the ANC in manners that none of its members can tolerate.

The conference emphasized on unity of purpose amongst leaders and in membership ranks. Respect for structures and deferring to the collective leadership was also emphasized. Open debate and frankness in exercising criticism will enhance unity rather than threaten it. Democratic centralism is important to ensure discipline in projective the voice of the collective and lacking if individual views in the media has eroded the respect of the ANC.

We urge all branches to work hard to ensure unity and hold all leaders accountable as the conference has emphasized. KwaZulu-Natal leadership learnt a lesson that it is important for both party and government leaders at all levels to listen to the voice of ordinary people and respond to their plight at all times. This was a clear message from conference as well. This has been important in reducing the incidents of public protests in the province. This is a lesson we must never forget, as Lenin once said: "the masses are always right". In our case we have seen masses install and remove governments. They cannot be right to put us into office and be wrong to take us out of office. We are all in leadership as long as we serve the masses. Self-serving leaders are a liability to both the ANC and our people.

The second most important achievement of the 53rd Conference was the adoption of the National Development Plan as the framework to guide South Africa for the next twenty years -- the vision 2030.

It is important for the ANC to ensure that this vision is understood and shared by all the people in our province. The NDP must inform the programs that the ANC conducts in the communities. In the case of KwaZulu-Natal the government has designed the interpretation of the NDP in the form of a Provincial Growth And Development Plan. The importance of the plan is the focus on the plan to expand our economy and create jobs. The reality of youth unemployment poses the most single threat to social stability as more and more youth are yearly turned into armies of unemployed. The Presidential Infrastructure program must be embraced and the national coordination be encouraged to override provincial interests that may have effect of derailing the implementation.

More and more attention must be paid by the ANC as a party to the voice of the poor and unemployed after all hey are the reason for the existence of the ANC.

The priorities of food security, agrarian reforms, quality health, education and fighting crime are well articulated in the NDP. These programs must be part and parcel of ANC political program to orientate leaders who focus on fighting for positions for the sake of positions. The ANC must focus on service delivery as the basis of our political engagement.

More work has been done to promote social cohesion by the ANC Government in the province. There has been focus on nation building, no racialism and strengthening the concept of unity in diversity. The ANC must continue to focus on this area.

The formation of CONTRALESA has added significantly on advancing our program on social cohesion and rural development.

We have been appalled by the resurgence of violence. There has been instances where political leaders have been targeted and killed in intra- party and inter party attacks. There was strong cooperation between parties to give attention to this matter. There has been a worrying wave of deaths inside the ANC sometimes involving ANC members and supporters. These have embarrassed the ANC and we have acted strongly and removed from our midst those who were involved. The ANC must stamp this tendency out ruthlessly.

We have seen the rise of violence against women, in murders, rape molestation of children and senior citizens which have to be condemned. The ANC must mobilize party structures to fight his scourge in support of government initiatives.

Similarly all efforts to eradicate crime and drugs in the province must be supported by branch programs in local structures formed for this purpose. The current initiatives by government Operation Sukuma Sakhe, Operation Hlasela, Azibuye emasisweni etc must be popularized by the branches.

The fight against HIV and AIDS has resulted in significant improvement in life expectancy and reduction of mother to child transmission. The ANC must continue to fight for a better life for all.

The ANC government must be supported in the fight against corruption and ensure good governance. the lessons in this regard is that good governance and strong fight against corruption and ensuring austerity measures only became successful because of the political support from ANC, Leagues and Alliance Partners. Without it there was no chance as the many incumbents need to know that the party expects good governance of them.

Efficient service delivery is fundamental to restore dignity to our people.
All these matters are now well articulated in the National Development Plan. It is the first time the country embraces such a plan that spans over several terms of government. For the ANC the NDP will deliver us closer to the National Democratic Society which will bring to an end apartheid legacy and create a more equal society. It is a perfect answer for the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment.

It is therefore my plea that the province of KwaZulu-Natal be focused to consolidate and build on the gains of our past and advance to a future prosperous province with skilled and healthy people.

We stand here to welcome the delegates to the BRICS Summit to be hosted for the first time in African soil. We believe South Africa's participation will be of benefit to the rest of the continent. It emphasizes our internationalist role in pursuit of a just world order and promotion of a multi polar world. Similarly our support for peoples of Palestine, Western Sahara as well as peace keeping efforts in the continent remain part of our contribution to human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence of Nations.

KwaZulu Natal must continue to work with all our Partners in civil society business and labour for the betterment of our society.

As I leave this province, I am more convinced that the lessons we learnt will help steer the ANC to continue to be a leading light in the province. There is no political party that can stand on the way of a UNITED ANC. We must ensure that unity within the ANC, ANCYL, ANCWL, ANCVL, SACP COSATU, SANCO and MKMVA is preserved at all times. That is a winning formula.

I must extend my gratitude to you all comrades. You have helped me to grow.

AMANDLA!

Issued by ANC KwaZulu-Natal, March 22 2013

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