Our Revolution will not be Halted
A few days before A few days before the President of the Republic, comrade Thabo Mbeki, delivered this year's State of the Nation Address, the leader of the Democratic Alliance, Helen Zille, made the astounding statement that, "The ANC's national democratic revolution is not only incompatible with democracy, but it lies at the heart of virtually every crisis we face. The electricity crisis, the arms deal, the manipulation of the criminal justice system, the weakening of Parliament and threats to the media and the judiciary can all be traced back to the national democratic revolution." She went on to demand that Pres. Mbeki, "halt the march of the ANC's national democratic revolution." A week later she challenged the President of the ANC, comrade Jacob Zuma, to: "Pledge your allegiance to the Constitution."
Nothing blinds people to their own power and privilege so much as the powerful and privileged position they occupy in society. Adapting a dictum so loved by some, we can say that absolute power and privilege tend to blind absolutely.
Few are as blind as the coalition that Zille leads - an amalgam of those who have exercised power and enjoyed privilege in one form or another - political, economic, social, military - based on the exclusion, exploitation and oppression of the vast majority. They shaped society in their own image and interest. Regrettably, but not surprisingly, they understand the abnormal to be normal and view attempts at fundamental change to this state of abnormality as unnatural and threatening.
They strive continuously to create social amnesia about where we come from - the better to obscure where we should be going, and what we need to do to get there. By perverse inversion they place the oppressed in the dock of history and charge them to justify their resistance to oppression and the assertion of their human dignity.
For centuries the lives of millions of South Africans were subjected, first to colonialism and later, with the introduction of apartheid, to colonialism of a special type which represented an all-round assault on each and every aspect of the existence and humanity of black people in general and Africans in particular. At the heart of this vicious system was the inter-related and mutually reinforcing oppression and exploitation on the basis of race, class and patriarchal relations of power.
National democratic revolution represents the strategic framework that guided the struggle to overthrow apartheid colonialism and continues to guide the struggle to eradicate its terrible legacy.
It is not, as Zille suggests, the national democratic revolution, but the legacy of apartheid colonialism that lies at the heart of virtually every serious challenge that we face as a nation, including that of nation-building.
The 2007 Strategy & Tactics of the ANC: Building a National Democratic Society describes the main content of the national democratic revolution as, "the liberation of Africans in particular and Blacks in general from political and socio-economic bondage. It means uplifting the quality of life of all South Africans, especially the poor, the majority of whom are African and female. At the same time it has the effect of liberating the white community from the false ideology of racial superiority and the insecurity attached to oppressing others." It goes on to say that, "the NDR seeks to build a society based on the best in human civilisation in terms of political and human freedoms, socio-economic rights, value systems and identity."
The transformation of power relationships in the many centres of power that constitute any society (the economy, the state, civil society, culture etc) has never happened by itself.
Strategy and Tactics recognizes that, "revolutionary democrats shall not find social relations of the new order ripe and ready for harvesting at the point of transfer of power. A national democratic society is a conscious construct, dependent on conscious action by politically advanced sections of society."
Those who oppose such conscious action and advocate a laissez-faire "equal opportunity society" approach must tell us which institutions in our society, which centres of power, must remain untransformed. Who must remain excluded? From what must they remain excluded? To whose advantage must they remain excluded?
Strategy and Tactics describes the kind of progressive national liberation movement needed to carry out the NDR in the current phase, as one that, "understands the interconnection between political and socio-economic challenges in our society; leads the motive forces of the NDR in pursuing their common aspirations and ensuring that their sectoral interests are linked to the strategic objective; masters the terrain of electoral contest, utilises political power to advance the objectives of the NDR and wields instruments of state in line with these ideals as reflected in the National Constitution; organises and mobilises the motive forces and builds broader partnerships to drive the process of reconstruction and development, nation-building and reconciliation; and conducts itself, both in its internal practices and in relation to society at large, in line with the ideals represented by the NDR and acts as a microcosm of the future."
Those opposed to transformation know that some of the most potent weapons in the hands of the oppressed are education, mobilization, organization - unity in action. They know that they must undermine the ability of the oppressed to unite in action to create a better life. They know that the ANC is the organizational expression of the deepest hopes and aspirations of the majority of South Africans. They know that they must attack the moral and political authority of ANC and its leadership to play the role of a unifying political centre.
Recently, Dan Roodt wrote in Rapport: "Let us admit it: our situation is dire. But not everything is lost, because we still have one weapon, and that is to break down the legitimacy of the current system."
Illustrative of this "breaking down" are the lies told about the nature and character of the national democratic revolution and the commitment of the ANC and its leadership to the Constitution and the rule of law.
The ANC has a long and proud history of commitment to constitutionalism and the rule of law dating back to its inception in 1912. This is illustrated by the adoption, amongst others, of the 1943 Africans' Claims in South Africa document and the Freedom Charter.
Strategy and Tactics explains that, "one of the most critical acts of the NDR is the creation of a legitimate state which derives its authority from the people, through regular elections and continuing popular participation in the processes of governance." It goes on to caution that, "in its conduct in relation to the state, the ANC should be guided by its own principles, and act within the framework of the National Constitution and relevant legislation. In this regard, it should manage the state as an organ of the people as a whole rather than a party political instrument."
And further that, "Mobilised around a clear vision of the kind of society we wish to become, the nation should act in partnership - each sector contributing to the realisation of the common good. The means should be put in place for citizens to exercise their human rights, and for the checks and balances necessary in a law-governed society. The democratic state should also have the organisational and technical capacity to realise its objectives."
None of these objectives can in any way be said to go against the letter or the spirit of our Constitution, on the contrary.
Our Constitution is based on the founding values of human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms, non-racialism and non-sexism, supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law, universal adult suffrage, a national common voters roll, regular elections and a multi-party system of democratic government, to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness - many of the very values underlying the national democratic society that we seek to build.
Our Constitution represents a progressive framework within which law governed social transformation aimed at building a national democratic society can take place. Strategy and Tactics states that, "as a broad canvass, the Constitution and the state system provide the requisite wherewithal to implement objectives of the NDR."
We must contest vigorously the attempts by those opposed to transformation to bleed our Constitution dry of its progressive content and to project it as a sterile bulwark against progressive social transformation.
Our tasks are clear: We must advance in unity as we mobilise the masses to build a caring national democratic society. Our national democratic revolution will not be halted.
This unsigned article was published in ANC Today - the weekly letter of the African National Congress - on February 22 2008. Note: Links added by Politicsweb.
