MEDIA STATEMENT BY THE AFRICAN RADICAL ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION ALLIANCE (ARETA) ON THE OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH MEDIA CONFERENCE

Thursday, 23 February 2023

Our country is trapped in the midst of a prolonged, and increasingly deepening socio- economic, and moral crisis. Having emerged deeply wounded and traumatised from centuries of vicious colonial oppression, and decades of the most terrible racist oppression and exploitation under apartheid (which was a crime against humanity), the long-suffering people of South Africa had high hopes of true and full liberation when our first democratic elections took place on the 27th of April 1994.

Those of us who are old enough still recall the excitement, hope and sense of the triumph of humanity that were contained in the long, winding, queues of people who elatedly - but patiently - waited to to vote; the overwhelming majority of whom were black and African, and who were voting for the first time in their lives. The photos of those long lines of voters became iconic, and are treasured up to this very day.

However, with the sobering wisdom of the hindsight of the past 29 years we now have those photos of the long voting queues are sadly etched into the collective memory/ consciousness of our nation as scars of torture and betrayal.

Betrayal that started already many years ago during the long years of the liberation struggle (even during the exile years), when the ANC as the oldest Liberation Movement in Africa, and the vanguard of the struggle and the hopes of our people, was infiltrated by sell out agents of imperialism and White Monopoly Capitalism (WMC), who slowly and insidiously undermined and eroded the original ideals of the liberation struggle. By the time that the 27th of April 1994 elections took place, the betrayal of those ideals had already gone very far with the sell out compromises that were made during the CODESA negotiations, and the deeply flawed and compromised negotiated Constitution that resulted.

The overwhelming majority of South Africans who voted for the first time with such elation, and high hopes, did not realise how deep and far they had already been betrayed. Those who tried to warn us such as Chris Hani, Harry Gwala and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela were viciously attacked, character assassinated, and even murdered (as happened with Chris Hani), by an evil axis local White Monopoly Capitalists and sell out black Compradore capitalists, under the control of Western Imperialism, that already had our country tightly in their strangle grip.

Almost right from the beginning of the first ANC governing administration of President Nelson Mandela neoliberal economic policies were embraced, and at an alarming rate increasingly strengthened. Neoliberal economic orthodoxy became ingrained into the governing African National Congress’s way of doing things especially during the two terms of the Thabo Mbeki administration which culminated in the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) policy programme.

This betrayal was made worse by the painful fact that South Africans expressed their hopes and love for the ANC, by having voted the ANC into government with an overwhelming two thirds majority. That trust and overwhelming mandate was squandered, and never used for the empowerment and liberation of the majority of black and especially African South Africans.

With a two thirds majority the unpalatable compromises of CODESA, and the compromising and constraining Clauses in the National Constitution could have been changed, and the land could have been returned without compensation to the indigenous people from whom it had violently been stolen at gunpoint by the white colonists. Sadly, none of the kind happened!

When President Jacob Zuma became President of the ANC in 2007 at Polokwane he tried to put a break onto this wholesale sell out process, with a policy programme hat was meant to increasingly empower the majority of black, and especially African, South Africans. This was viciously opposed by the very same axis of WMC and black compradore capitalists.

While some successes to improve the lives of black South Africans were achieved, the overall objectives of the empowerment and Radical Economic Transformation of the lives the majority of poor and exploited South Africans, were frustrated and eventually derailed. This was the main reason why President Zuma was eventually forced out of office in 2018.

The new administration under Cyril Ramaphosa represented a full return to the original well-planned sell out project: a betrayal of the liberation struggle and destruction of the high hopes of our people. The neoliberal economic project became strengthened and implemented without any restraint.

As a consequence the official ANC economic policy programme of Radical Economic Transformation (RET) that was adopted at the 54th National Conference of the ANC was never implemented. Instead a neoliberal project to dismember, destroy and privatise State Owned Enterprises (SOE’s) was enforced, with devastating consequences for economic growth and job creation, and the total abandoning of any pro-poor policies for the empowerment of the majority of black South Africans.

This was accompanied by the hollowing out, and near destruction of the State Institutions, including our law enforcement agencies and the legal system (courts), that have become captured tools of abuse for factional political objectives in the hands of the governing axis of WMC and black Compradore Capitalists.

All of this destruction was, and continues to be accompanied, by a vicious Stratcom-like propaganda campaign through the establishment of the Commission of Enquiry into State Capture and the perpetuation of the myth, and blatant lie, that ‘State Capture’ only took place during the nine year of the Jacob Zuma Administration, deliberately obscuring the glaring fact that true State Capture dates back literally centuries to the era of colonialism, and in doing so protecting the true WMC and international Imperialist State Capturers.

The prevailing narrative of tainting black, especially African, South Africans with a universal tar brush of corruption, while allowing WMC to go unchallenged and scot-free, became the biggest perpetuated lie that destroyed all truth in our beloved country. In the wake of this lie, with our current Chief Justice, Raymond Zondo (who was also the Chair of the State Capture Commission), as its foremost snake oil salesman, and Inquisition-like enforcer, the Ramaphosa administration proceeded apace with the dismembering, destruction and ultimate privatisation of our State Owned Enterprises (SOE’s). All of the this in the context of the implementation of a now totally unbridled neoliberal economic policy programme, that evidently does not emanate from our national interest, but is driven by Western Imperialist ideologues and interests.

The disastrous consequences of all of this are glaringly evident in the economic collapse of our country. The destruction and loss of critical SOE’s such as SAA, DENEL, SASOL, ARMSCOR, PETROSA, and the destruction of our rail network etc. The list of destruction and looting is too long to exhaustively elaborate on in this statement. Suffice to say that we are now truly teetering on the edge of the precipice, with ESKOM having been deliberately mismanaged to the point where we are told Stage Six Load Shedding is now the indefinite and foreseeable norm.

In addition yesterday’s Budget Speech presented us (despite al the propaganda bells and whistles) with the disaster of no-growth, no job creation and an increasingly totally unsustainable international debt burden. All of this is accompanied by the unsurpassed theft of state resources (as was seen by the whole scale criminality and looting of state resources that were meant to provide relief to the poor during the COVID-19 pandemic) and the impunity with which the governing elite flaunts the law (as most aptly and disturbingly demonstrated by the Phala Phala criminal saga that President Ramaphosa is embroiled in). The impunity with which he avoids accountability demonstrates the crime scene that our country has become …

Our country, and especially the long suffering people of our country, deserves so much better!

The betrayal of the people of South Africa by the ANC as the governing party sadly is now complete, and has reached the point of no return. There are those progressive South Africans, who over many years have tried their level best to work within the ANC to stop the rot and betrayal and the terrible selling out.

Some of us are represented here at this front table. We did so in the understanding the majority of members of the ANC are good and caring South Africans who are certainly not corrupt, and who only want to see the ideals of the liberation struggle achieved and work hard to build better lives for themselves and their children. However, with the total ideological and moral hollowing out of the ANC under Ramaphosa and his acolytes, the ANC has died, and it can no longer be an instrument/vehicle for good, and the advancement of the genuine and legitimate liberation ideals of the people of our country.

The carcass of the now dead ANC has become a Trojan Horse for neoliberalism, and the whole sale subjugation and exploitation of the majority of black, poor, South Africans. If there was still any doubt, this was fully confirmed by the disastrous outcomes of the 55th National Conference of the ANC in December last year.

As a consequence thousands of South Africans have raised their concerns throughout the country, on social media and elsewhere, and called for a new ‘Movement' to be established in order to give expression to - and to continue to pursue - the original liberation ideals for which the African National Congress was formed in 1912, at the Waaihoek Methodist Church in Mangaung. At the very heart of the formation of the ANC was the return of the land to the indigenous people of this country, and to forge unity among all the oppressed in order to rise up, and fight effectively for their own liberation. This is exactly what the economic programme of RADICAL ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION (RET) stands for. It is at the heart (the centre) of this ‘Movement’ that we have step-by-step deliberately, carefully, and organically established over the past three months.

Originally the working name of this project was the ‘Radical Economic Transformation Movement’ (‘RETMO’), however it became clear that the final name of the organisation - that we are launching today - must be reflective of our roots, and what we actually intend to achieve. Ultimately our ROOTS are AFRICAN, and our OBJECTIVE is to forge a broad united progressive ALLIANCE in pursuit of Radical Economic Transformation (RET). Thus, the final name of the organisation that we now officially launch at this media conference, and present to you, is: AFRICAN RADICAL ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION ALLIANCE (ARETA).

ARETA is registered both as an NPO and NPC; whether it will eventually also register as a political party lies in the future, and it will depend on what our signed up members and the people of South Africa want. Ultimately it is about what will best serve our objective of forging unity among all progressive forces of the left to achieve the implementation of Radical Economic Transformation (RET).

As members of the Working Board of ARETA we are proud to this morning present the brand new logo of ARETA, together with the Ten Point Plan To Save Our Nation, that we have developed in broad consultation with many thousands of South Africans throughout the length and breadth of our country. This Ten Point Plan is not final, nor exhaustive, it is an open working document with which we reach out to every South African to engage with us, and provide us with their responses and views. Ultimately we want through their continuing engagement with the Ten Point Plan for South Africans to take ownership of it, and to make this plan their very own.

As the Working Board we have also - in preparation for this launch - started a process of engagement with various national, provincial and locally based opposition political parties of the left, as well as civil society organisations and religious formations, in order to work for unity among all the progressive forces, in order to form a united front to save our country from the terrible disaster that has befallen all of us under the ANC of Cyril Ramaphosa. The Ten Point Plan is the foundation on which ARETA intends to forge a minimum programme of united action that can bring together all the forces of the progressive left in our country. The engagements/consultations that we have started, and which we have reported publicly, will continue apace after this official media launch.

As was also reported in the media, our Working Board is in the process of reaching out to various foreign missions in our country. Our first priority is to brief the embassies our BRICS partners. Among those that we already visited are the Embassy of the Russian Federal Republic, and the Chinese General Consulate in Durban. When visiting the Ambassador of the Russian Federation, Ambassador Ilya Igorevich Rogachev, it was our pleasure to brief him about the work of ARETA, but also convey our support for the Russian Federation with regards to the Special Military Operation in the Ukraine. Meetings with the Ambassadors of other member countries of BRICS, as well as other progressive nations that we consider important to brief, such as Cuba, Venezuela and Palestine, are in the process of being arranged.

The task of the four member Working Board that you see here in front of you, and the biographies of whom you can log into on our website to get to know more about us, is to launch and build this organisation as a People’s Mass Alliance, throughout the length and breadth of the country. We are not a leadership elite, we are WORKERS with the singular intention to roll up our sleeves and slog it out in order to achieve our overall objectives. Thus, we are called a WORKING BOARD.

Our intention with this event is to hold a media conference, not a meeting/rally, in order to brief the media and communicate our plans. After this launch we will now start signing up members from today onwards - both electronically through the membership portal on our new Website, and also through the distribution of physical membership forms. The domain name of our website is: https://aretasa.org/. We also have a social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Members of the media are encouraged to visit our Website, which we are very proud of, and which is an important tool for our organisational outreach, and membership drive.

Once our membership has grown, we will then proceed to hold meetings/rallies in all the provinces and regions throughout the country. Our approach to the launch and growth of ARETA is organic, people’s based, systematic and disciplined. We know that there is no replacement for hard work and systematic step-by-step engagement with our communities throughout the country.

We will live by the maxim of the great African revolutionary, Amilcar Cabral: “Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies wherever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistake, failures. Claim no easy victories …” The people of South Africa have been betrayed, lied to, and disillusioned enough - the promises and undertakings that we now make, we must keep.

Herewith our ARETA Ten Point Plan To Save Our Country:

1.  Expropriation of land without compensation

2.  Reverse privatisation of SOE’s

3.  Nationalise the South African Reserve Bank (SARB)

4.  Implement National Health Plan and State Pharmaceutical company

5.  End load shedding and nationalise all coal resources

6.  National Service, skills training and Public Works programmes

7.  Minimum living wage

8.  Intensified border policing and deportation of illegal foreigners

9.  Harsher sentences and referendum on death penalty

10. Drastic reduction of fuel prices with cheaper oil from BRICS

A more comprehensive, detailed, document expanding on the Ten Point Plan is included in the media information pack as an Addendum.

On behalf of our Working Board I thank you for your presence here today. All that we ask of you is to report objectively and fairly about our work.

The task that rest on our shoulders is indeed a huge one. However, it is made lighter and achievable by incredible positive response that we have received from thousands of South Africans throughout the length and the breadth of our country. It is evident that ARETA is an idea whose time has come.

The people of our country are thirsting for honesty and practical, achievable plans and engagements, that will empower them to achieve the liberation ideals that they are thirsting for, and for which so many sacrifices have been made.

It is the intention of ARETA to be the political home for all those millions of decent, freedom loving, South Africans who need true hope and commitment based on practical, and achievable Radical Economic Transformation (RET) plans to bring a fundamental transformation of their lives, and to liberate themselves from the lies and subjugation that they have been so cynically, and abusively, subjected to.

As the old saying goes: If you want to see change - be that change! ARETA IS GOING TO BE THAT CHANGE!

A LUTA CONTINUA!

Issued by the ARETA Working Board

Read out on behalf of the Working Board by the Chairperson, Ambassador Carl Mpangazitha Niehaus

Members of the Working Board:

Chair: Ambassador Carl Mpangazitha Niehaus Deputy Chair: Ms. Siyalithata Mzaidume Secretary: Mr. Nkosentsha Shezi

Treasurer: Ambassador Faizel Moosa

Address: C/o JG Xulu Incorporated (Attorneys) Suite 14, 1 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, 2196

For further information contact:

Amb. Carl Niehaus (Chair of the Working Board: 081 881 9408)

Mr. Nkosentsha Shezi (Secretary of the Working Board: 071 834 7106)

ADDENDUM:

EXPANDED TEN POINT PLAN TO SAVE OUR COUNTRY

1. EXPROPRIATION OF LAND WITHOUT COMPENSATION: Prioritise the

expropriation of land without compensation as a matter of national priority, and commit to building of a broad national coalition of all progressive forces in the country to nationalise all land, and to make such land available for productive use on the basis of national developmental priorities. The unworkable, and thoroughly discredited, willing seller/willing buyer policy must be rejected. In this context our Constitution should be subjected to a comprehensive review to remove all Constitutional impediments to the expropriation of land without compensation. This should be part of an overall review of the Constitution to identify and remove all obstacles in the Constitution, such as the protection of property rights, that impedes the full economic empowerment of the majority of black, especially African South Africans, and prevent the implementation of a comprehensive programme of Radical Economic Transformation (RET).

2. REVERSE PRIVATISATION OF SOE’S: The privatisation process of State Owned Enterprises (SOE’s) must be stopped immediately, and legislation must be passed in parliament to roll back the privatisation of SOE’s that have taken place, through a comprehensive omnibus Bill. Thus, all those SOE’s that have been privatised (such as SAA), and others that are in the process of being privatised (such as ESKOM) must be nationalised, and brought back into state ownership. This must be an absolute priority, to be done in similar fashion to what President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva did in Brazil, immediately after his inauguration as President.

3. NATIONALISE THE SOUTH AFRICAN RESERVE BANK: The South African

Reserve Bank (SARB) must be nationalised, and ALL the shares of private shareholders (whether South African, or foreign shareholders) must be expropriated, and nationalised, by an Act of Parliament. The push must be for this to happen immediately, however, if the current ANC government fails to act immediately, our understanding must be that a government of the progressive left, once it comes into power, must as one of its first priorities - within one month after it has come into power - fully nationalise the SARB. It must through an Act of Parliament also re- formulate the mandate of the SARB so that it will primarily have a duty to grow the South African economy and to create jobs. In conjunction a State Bank must be established as a matter of urgent priority. The push must also be for it to happen immediately, however, if the current ANC government refuses to act, our understanding must be that a government of the progressive left, once it comes into power must as one of its first priorities - within one month after it has come into power - establish the State Bank, and ensure that Treasury will make adequate resources available for it to function, and to make affordable developmental capital available to black, especially African, entrepreneurs.

4. IMPLEMENT THE NATIONAL HEALTH PLAN AND STATE PHARMACEUTICAL

COMPANY: The health of our nation must be prioritised. The National Health Plan must be prioritised, and implemented. Immediate action must be taken for government to ensure that all women will have free access to sanitary pads. This must be treated as an emergency, and a basic human right that must be implemented immediately. Furthermore a State Pharmaceutical Company must be established. Again, the push must be for this to happen immediately, however, if the current ANC government refuses to act, our understanding must be that a government of the progressive left, once it comes into power, must as one of its first priorities, within one month after it has come into power, establish such a State Pharmaceutical Company.

5. END LOAD SHEDDING AND NATIONALISE ALL COAL RESOURCES: Immediately

bring - by Executive Order - an end to the export of high grade South African coal, and issue an Executive Order that our coal resources must be utilised to address the energy crises in South Africa. Nationalise all our national coal resources, and utilise all coal resources in order to service our electricity needs, and bring an end to load shedding. Prioritise the full utilisation of all our coal power stations to be the main, foundational, source of energy security and of the energy mix in our country. Re- commission all the coal power stations that have been decommissioned, and utilise all required state resources to bring them back to full electricity production. By Executive Order cancel all the IPP agreements/contracts that have been signed, and subject all such to a thorough evaluation on the basis of a clear understanding that coal is the foundation of a secure energy supply for our country. Commit to bring an end to load shedding, through decisive government emergency intervention within one month of implementing these policies. Engage with our BRICS partners to resuscitate the nuclear power programme that had been scuppered through the meddling of the USA and Western Europe.

6. NATIONAL SERVICE, SKILLS TRAINING AND PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMME:

Pass legislation to introduce National Service for a minimum of one year to all youth who have reached the age of 18 years. A Department for National Service should be established to work closely together with the SANDF that should be responsible for the National Service call-up. All youth who reach the age of 18 will be expected by law to dedicate at least one year to National Service. Such National Service will be dedicated to addressing the urgent developmental and infrastructural needs of our country, and will be part of the roll out of extended Public Works Programmes. Youth will be organised into National Brigades with specific duties, as determined by the Department of National Service, in conjunction with other government departments on the basis of our country’s developmental priorities. So for example will Brigades be established to repair our road and rail infrastructure, do service in hospitals and work on civil engineering projects to ensure the building of infrastructure to provide in the basic needs of our communities such as the building of new schools, tertiary institutions, hospitals and the provision of clean water supply and housing etc. The Public Works Programmes will be an important job creation tool. Such National Service and Extended Public Works Programmes will be established and funded through the introduction of a progressive National Wealth Tax. The National Service Brigades will be established with military precision and discipline, and the SANDF will do the call up. No-one will be exempted from this National Service. Such National Service will help to instil discipline and a work ethic in youth, and will also be directed at addressing the serious problem of drug addiction and teenage pregnancies. Avoidance of National Service will be a serious offence and punishable by law. The National Brigades should work in coordination with the Civil Engineering Division of the SANDF in order to give priority to infrastructural needs such as the building of bridges and roads for our population, especially for our children to safely cross rivers and other physical obstacles of nature order to go to school etc. Ambitious, but achievable, targets must be set for the SANDF and the National Brigades to achieve, and they must be held accountable and expected to report publicly to the nation about achieving these objectives/targets. Success must be rewarded by recognition of exceptional members of the National Brigades as national heroes in the war against poverty and suffering.

7. MINIMUM LIVING WAGE: A national minimum living wage must be agreed on, and implemented. The push must be for this to happen immediately, however, if the current

ANC government fails to act, our understanding must be that a government of the progressive left, once it comes into power, must implement this as one of its first priorities within six month after it has come into power. Such basic minimum living wage must by law be paid to ALL employed South African citizens and legally DOCUMENT foreigners who are in terms of South African law legally in the country. Non-documented illegal undocumented foreigners must by law be barred from any employment, and the laws that makes it punishable to employ illegal, undocumented, foreigners must be strengthened and strictly enforced. A special South African Police Service (SAPS) unit must be established to enforce such legislation, and must work on an inter-disciplinary basis with the Departments of Home Affairs, Labour and the SANDF. Specifically in the hospitality industry (restaurants etc.) it must be illegal to employ undocumented illegal foreigners. South Africans citizens must be given priority, and legislation must provide for such by granting employers tax incentives for employing South Africans (legal, documented, foreigners can be employed but tax incentives must not be applicable). The national minimum living wage must also be paid to all employees in the hospitality industry, the criminal practice of hospitality industry workers (specifically waiters) only working for tips must be outlawed as slave labour.

8. INTENSIFIED BORDER POLICING AND DEPORTATION OF ILLEGAL

FOREIGNERS: A special Border Policing Unit, consisting of specially selected and trained members of SAPS and the SANDF must be established and given priority funding to control our borders and to prevent illegal foreigners from crossing our borders and entering the country. Illegal, undocumented, foreigners should not be allowed freedom of movement in our country. All illegal, undocumented, foreigners must be placed in transit camps and processed through Priority Tribunals, that will expeditiously implement applicable international law with regards border exchange controls and refugee status. Those who are not covered within the ambit of such legislation must be repatriated to their countries of origin without any undue delays, and without any fear or favour. This is not draconian, nor xenophobic, it is simply the implementation of the internationally established norm that a nations first duty is to care for its own citizens. If we want to address the current economic crisis and take care of the developmental needs of our people this is the absolute bare minimum that is required.

9. HARSHER SENTENCES AND REFERENDUM ON DEATH PENALTY: Tighten and

strengthen legislation to deal with priority crimes, such as Gender Based Violence (GBV) crimes, murder, drug trafficking (to mention only a few). Legislation must make provision for severe/long minimum sentences, where parole will not be applicable. A life sentence for such crimes, must mean exactly a life sentence (for the rest of the biological life of the sentenced person), without any provision for parole. A referendum should be held on whether the death sentence must be introduced for certain severe priority crimes.

10. DRASTIC REDUCTION OF FUEL PRICES WITH CHEAPER OIL FROM BRICS: The

government must be ceased with the urgent duty to engage our BRICS partners (specifically Russia), and other progressive oil producing nations such as Venezuela etc., to secure cheaper oil, and to bring the fuel price down by at least one third within the next three months.

END

Issued by ARETA, 23 February 2023