ANC Secretary General, Gwede Mantashe's report on the state of the organization, National Executive Committee Lekgotla, Esselen Park, Gauteng, 15 - 18 January 2010

STATE OF THE ORGANISATION

INTRODUCTION

0.1 This report is an overview of the state of the organisation since the 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress held in Polokwane 2007. It also aims to serve as a basis for our Mid-Term Review report at our forthcoming National General Council later this year. It is both a political and organisational account of the developments of the period under review, an assessment of the progress made and challenges faced by the movement. In doing so, it outlines the major tasks of our movement for the period ahead.

0.2 We should assess progress made against the strategic objectives of the ANC, key among them being:

i. To unite all the people of South Africa, Africans in particular, for the complete liberation of the country from all forms of discrimination and national oppression.

ii. To end apartheid in all its forms, rapidly transform South Africa into a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic country based on the principles of the Freedom Charter, and in pursuit of the national democratic revolution.

0.3 The 52nd National Conference affirmed our long-held position that the ANC belongs to its membership, and resolved to build a powerful ANC and our strategic Alliance. Major social and economic policy resolutions were adopted in response to the challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality; also on industrial policy, building a developmental state, rural development and improving the quality of education and health for all South Africans.

0.4 Critical to carrying out the mandate of the 52nd National Conference was the paramount task of uniting the ANC, the Alliance and our people. This happened within the context of what we call ‘two centres of power', which posed a serious challenge to effective governance. It was also in the context of the political persecution of our President, necessitating a sustained campaign for the defence of and mobilisation around him. The developments surrounding this, especially after the high-court judgement, led to the recall of President Mbeki by the ANC, supported by our allies, and the emergence of a splinter group in the form of COPE.

Contrary to media speculation of possible civil war and chaos, under the sterling leadership of the ANC's Deputy President - deployed as President of the Republic, the transition from the Mbeki administration was smooth. The national leadership began the process of revitalising our structures for one of the greatest, yet challenging, election campaigns we have ever seen. Indeed, we mounted a united and largely disciplined election campaign, in which we secured the decisive electoral victory for the fourth term.

All these, including the decisive interventions in troubled provinces in this period, should be understood as part of the process of uniting our movement.

0.5 The organisational renewal is on-going and focuses on areas of revitalising our structures, growing our membership base, embarking on massive political education programmes, building a campaigning ANC, and strengthening the strategic policy capacity of our movement.

0.6 The renewal of our movement is by extension the renewal of our Tripartite Alliance and our broader democratic movement. Over the last two years the working of the Alliance has improved dramatically, particularly when compared with the previous ten years of cold relations.

But more needs to be done to improve Alliance relations at national and subnational levels. We have also interacted with our mass democratic movement, even extending to new progressive social formations.

0.7 We also need to ensure that building the ANC as a strategic political centre results in effective governance, especially in building a new public sector cadre, improving our approach of deployment and the conduct and performance of our public representatives.

0.8 Our 2009 manifesto is the basis for uniting the ANC, the Alliance and all our people behind a programme of transformation. The Manifesto has identified five priority areas - creation of jobs, decent work, and sustainable livelihoods; agrarian and land reform; education; health and a fight against crime and corruption. These commitments are in line with the demands of the Freedom Charter. Improving our performance in these five areas will take us closer to the ideal of a free South Africa that our forebears dreamed of fifty-five years ago.

1 THE TASKS OF OUR MOVEMENT SINCE THE 52ND NATIONAL CONFERENCE

"Flowing from five days of constructive and, at times, intense engagement the integrity of the ANC and its democratic processes has emerged victorious. Eschewing dangers of division and discord that threatened to distract us from our historic mission, we emerged in unity to recommit ourselves to the tasks of reconstruction and development, nation building and reconciliation". (Conference Declaration, 2007)

1.1 The paragraph encapsulates the Conference its ambience and the commitment of the ANC to changing the lives of our people for the better. The Declaration describes the resolutions as constituting "a mandate that will guide the actions of all the cadres of the ANC, wherever they may be deployed, and which will form the centre-piece of our policy agenda over the next five years" and beyond.

1.2 The Organisational Report diagnosed challenges facing our movement, thereby offering a concrete premise for our organisational work. Central to all the challenges identified is the progress made in implementing our main programme, that is, the Freedom Charter.

A. Education

• Ninety-eight percent of children between 7 and 15 years are currently in school, thus bringing South Africa close to universal access to education. Sixty percent of deserving schools are no-fee schools, thereby making a humble beginning towards free and compulsory education. Our challenge is that we should emphasise "free and compulsory" education in our daily communication, and strive more towards our commitment of making education free up to the undergraduate level.

• Functional illiteracy, as a percentage of the population, has been reduced from 14,4% in 1995 to 8,8% in 2009.

• Making education one of the five priorities over the next five years reaffirms the commitment of the ANC to the improvement of the quality of education and access thereto. The 2009 curriculum review addresses the content and impact of education on the young people in the main, their procession to higher education and their preparation for entry into the labour market. The establishment of the Ministry for Higher and Further Education, responsible for coordinating skills development, is an affirmation that the ANC is keen to respond to the needs of the country.

• The ten-point plan on education must guide our implementation, and we should monitor and evaluate progress made.

• The introduction of external examination for grade 3, 6 and 9 will remove the hype around matriculation results, without reducing their importance as another stage of assessment.

• The engagement with teacher organisations in particular and other stakeholders is urgent.

B. Health

• The renewed focus on health was informed by the ANC acknowledging the deterioration of the quality of healthcare, despite improved access to health services.

• Since 1994 we have appropriately emphasised preventive rather than curative health.

• Many more clinics were built yet the quality of care in hospitals declined and queues in all health facilities grew.

• The introduction of the National Health Insurance scheme should begin in the next financial year and be budgeted for.

• The renewed energy in the area of HIV and AIDS is not only refreshing but needs to be supported and be resourced.

C. The Economy

• The question we need to answer regarding the role of the state in growing the economy and the redistribution of wealth and income is: have we made progress in ensuring that "the people share in the country's wealth"? Two key demands of the Freedom Charter have been put on the agenda of the movement for discussion. The first one is the demand that "the mineral wealth beneath the soil, the banks and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole".

• The debate on the nationalisation of the mines, recently raised sharply by the ANCYL, has to be expanded to give meaning to this clause of the Freedom Charter, and the ANC has the responsibility of giving practical expression to it.

Given that ownership of all mineral deposits have been reverted back to the state, that private operators will pay royalties to the state and a state-owned mining company is being reactivated; we need to offer concrete proposals as to what more can be done in this sector. We must give meaning to the monopoly industry and identify sectors constituting it.

• The more curious question is why have we been reluctant to even open the discussion on the role of the state in the banking industry, including discussing the fact that the South African Reserve Bank is one of less than five central banks in private hands in the world. If the Posbank were to have a proper banking licence a solid base would be created and the debate have meaning instead of being abstract.

• The challenges that confront the infrastructure development programme need to be addressed and all the affected departments working with relevant committees of the ANC must reconcile their plans and programme so that they can complement each other

• Employment creation, quality jobs and sustainable livelihood can only be a reality if we work on concrete concessions that the various stakeholders are prepared to make. We must concretely identify labour absorbing sectors and invest resources accordingly. Structural weaknesses in the economy must be identified and be addressed, building on the good work that has been done over the last sixteen years.

The commitment to create 4 million jobs by 2014 must be taken serious and all the sectors must make concrete commitments on what they will be doing in real terms. The NEDLAC framework on dealing with the economic crisis should be factored-in into this process.

• Developing a dynamic cadre for the public service requires that PALAMA must be more focussed and appropriately resourced. It must take a bigger responsibility in developing and enhancing the intellectual capacity in the state.

Included in the curriculum should be the political and the philosophical content of the development agenda of the ruling party. This will minimise the tension between the political leadership and the management leadership in government. Partnership with specific institutions of higher learning must be structured. The framework for this approach must be developed within a year from the Lekgotla.

• Rural development must be taken beyond implementation of projects to a more integrated programme, requiring the financial commitments by the various ministries but coordinated centrally. Addressing the infrastructure backlog, food production and food security in these economically depressed areas goes beyond the narrow definition of rural development to the creation of economic nodes that can contribute to the economic recovery in a visible way.

• Transformation of the criminal justice system is urgent. Despite the fact that in the mid-term budget provision has been made for improving specific aspects in our communication, we have allowed the focus to be on policing only.

We must communicate the concrete steps that we are going to take.

• Two areas that have been isolated in the manifesto as priorities but come up everywhere we engage communities are, housing and access to clean water. The question of water rights must addressed including, the removal of obstacles that prevent communities access to water even where villages are in close proximity to reliable water streams.

D. Political and Social Hegemony

• The ANC remains the leader and representative of the hopes and aspirations of all the people of South Africa. It is the majority party in government.

• The Conference's Political Report reaffirmed the conclusion of the 2005 National General Council (NGC) that "the consolidation of political democracy, the growing electoral strength of and support for our movement, and the relative stabilisation of the economy have created a new set of opportunities and challenges for the cause of social transformation".

• In 2010 we must, however, make sense of the decline in percentage we received in the 2009 general elections. The electoral mandate was just below the two-thirds majority we have enjoyed for a number of years, despite the increase in the number of voters who actually voted for the ANC.

• With the threat of the opposition forming coalitions in all the spheres of government, a detailed analysis of the performance of the ANC and the opposition must be carried out down toward level. Of particular significance are the following: the upward trend in the support for the DA, the ability of COPE - as a young party - to have representation in all the nine provinces, the massive reduction in the support of the ID and the UDM, and the near annihilation of smaller parties.

• The challenge, therefore, is that of maintaining the ANC as a truly multi-class movement where all the people, irrespective of class, race or gender, are at home. The ANC must truly remain the leader of all forces for change, and lead the process of mobilising "all South Africans to contribute to the ongoing transformation of our country. In doing this, we strive to appeal to and foster a common sense of South Africanness and a shared responsibility for our common destiny among all citizens of South Africa, black and white." (Strategy and Tactics, 2007).

2 THE PROCESS OF RENEWAL OF OUR MOVEMENT

2.0 Organisational renewal will enable the ANC respond to "the range of global, domestic and intra-organisational factors and forces which impact on the organisation - its character, structures and membership" - and the new environment. The Polokwane Resolution reminds us that "the preservation of the movement's character, culture and values in a changing context and new conditions of struggle is the central focus of the organisational renewal effort in the runup to the Centenary of the ANC in 2012". An old organisation, including one as dynamic as ours, tends to be gradual in making change. Organisational renewal is therefore about "adapt and preserve".

2.1 The unbanning of the liberation movement in 1990 and the democratic breakthrough in 1994 ushered in a new chapter in the history of our movement. The first four years can be characterised as dual political power, with the period from 1994 being a phase where the combination of state power and mass power created a rare opportunity. After fifteen years in power the ANC remains a source of inspiration and hope for our people. We must ensure that we do not take the support for our movement for granted.

2.2 Ascent to power also impacted negatively on the outlook of the African National Congress. The main weakness that our movement must confront is the "inability to effectively deal with the new tendencies such as social distance, patronage, careerism, corruption and abuse of power. The lack of policy for dealing effectively with the intersection between holding office and business interest is fast corroding the moral authority of our movement in society". The fact that this debate has now been opened is in itself positive.

2.3 ANC Head Office

a. The Headquarters of the ANC were a shell when we returned from the 52nd Conference. Many of the departments were dysfunctional and without staff.

b. The SGO has improved its operational capacity. Capacity in most of the departments has been rebuilt, for example,

i. Communication has been one of the departments that have kept the ANC going. The NEC Bulletin has been reintroduced to ensure that NEC decisions are accessed by the structures of the movement from the same source, so as to minimise confusion caused when comrades communicate only that which they prefer. We have implemented the conference resolution that the SGO be the main communicator of ANC organisational positions.

ii. Capacity in the Organisation Building unit has been improved

iii. Political education is at the initial stages of rebuilding. The site for the political school has been identified and purchased. The sub-committee has put together the curriculum and the operational framework for the school.

iv. We have now established the policy institute with minimum staffing, and are in the process of giving experienced cadres of the movement the responsibility of putting an operational structure together.

2.4 Membership

a. Having taken all the provinces through the provincial conferences, except Gauteng, gate keeping remains a major problem and a source of resentment among members of the ANC. Manipulation of membership statistics to influence outcomes of elective conferences, is central to the conflict that has characterised almost all our provincial conferences.

b. The dysfunctional membership system continues to make membership auditing a farce. Commissioning various institutions to clean our system has proven to be a nightmare. We need to invest more resources in the membership system, if we hope to move to a more reliable system that can make auditing meaningful. Only then can we make the dream of one million members a reality. As things stand, a lot of membership remains unaccounted for.

2.5 The Branches

a. The role of the branch in recruitment, induction and political education of members has been clarified and elevated to the right level of importance. The only aspect that has been compromised, because of deep-seated factionalism, is the role of a member in recruitment. Efforts of individual members to recruit for the ANC are treated with suspicion and are, in the end, frustrated. This limits the right to recruit to the officials in a branch, at best, and to the branch secretary, at worst.

b. Regions undermine membership records kept in branches, since branches normally keep copies while regions hold the original forms. This is an area that can be resolved by a reliable membership system that could be used to test the reliability of the regional records. This debate is underway and will be concluded soon.

c. As we deal with the assessment of provinces we will be able to give content to the work of the sub-regions/zones, the regions and the provinces. The debate, referred to branches by the National Conference, and not consciously entertained as yet, is that of exempting ANCYL members who become eighteen years from the eight weeks probation as they would, in anyway, be active in their branches as Youth League activists.

2.6 Mass Mobilisation and Organisation

a. ANC branches were called to lead mass organisation and mass mobilisation. In the recent mass protests ANC members led but their role, in the majority of cases, was negative. The positive work done by both the branches and councillors continues to go unnoticed. People become more vocal when there is criticism levelled against these activists of our movement. This negative content of mass work becomes the mainstay of our message even at leadership level.

This has a demoralising effect on the hardworking cadres who actually constitute the majority.

b. There is minimum branch work outside of the election campaigns and elective meetings of our constitutional structures such as at branch, regional, provincial and national level. This is a weakness in that these elective meetings of the ANC are becoming weaker in terms of the political content, since all energy is spent on lobbying for positions.

Very few branches of the ANC have heeded the call to work with various organisations, forums, structures and NGOs operating in the same communities. Where branches meet regularly the focus is on administrative work, with little attention given to consolidating organisational work.

c. Infighting and destructive contestation in the structures of the ANC remain major challenges facing the movement. The influence of money in our processes is having the biggest potential to change the character of the movement from being people-centred and people-driven to one where power is wielded by a narrow circle of those who own and/or control resources. Any polarisation driven by class interests and greed always manifests itself as factions, and is not based on any ideological differences.

2.7 Lobbying

a. The NEC has reaffirmed the need to develop guidelines for lobbying. This was informed by the emerging trend of making lobbying for positions the mainstay of our organisational work. An emerging perception is that daggers are always out and there is no political life other than vying for positions in the ANC. The way we handle each other publicly promotes this negative image. The ANC can ill afford being in a state of lobbying from one conference to the other.

b. The political education sub-committee has begun the review of "Through the Eye of the Needle", as directed by the National Conference. This should help us outgrow the myth created around the election of leadership, that is, a projection of conspiracies and plotting instead of a political activity linked to the programme of the movement. It will remove unnecessary tensions around a legitimate political activity of electing leadership in every electoral structure of the ANC.

c. Changing leadership when it is necessary must never be factionalised or made a source of suspicion. Leadership performance and the combination of skills needed for the implementation of the programme must be an open discussion in the structures of the ANC. Lobbying will then be removed from the influence of money and returned to the members of the organisation. In that way the organisation will be liberated from being held hostage by strong lobby groups and factions.

The NEC must be seen to be leading this normalisation process and talk with one voice.

2.8 Political Education

a. In the first twelve months after the National Conference the political education subcommittee totally collapsed. Retrospectively, we can submit that appointing a wrong leader for this structure, as confirmed by her defection to COPE, was the main reason for this near disaster.

b. The renewed energy in this sub-committee gives us hope for the future. We can only effectively deal with the decline in ideological depth by stepping up our political education programme. A political education committee has already been established in the national caucus in parliament and it will be replicated at sub-national levels.

c. Political education must be central to the cadreship development programme. The ANC must find a way of including political theory and content in the curriculum for public sector cadres, so that contradictions and tensions between the political leadership and the bureaucracy are replaced by common purpose. This will improve the management of the interface between the movement and the state.

2.9 ANC Veterans League

a. The establishment of the ANC Veterans League, which is in accordance with the Polokwane Resolution, will give the ANC a structured access to the experience and memory of the movement embodied in the collective mind of its stalwarts. The veterans are to play an important role in reinforcing "the traditions, history, values and unity of the movement". This is a reasonable expectation from the ANC structures at all levels.

2.10 MKMVA

a. MKMVA is more active in the structures of the ANC. Reporting on the activities of this structure has improved, but it can be better and properly structured. We can do more in the area of looking after the welfare of excombatants.

b. The establishment and formalisation of the Military Veterans directorate in the Ministry of Defence should add impetus to the work of improving the lives of military veterans.

2.11 The Alliance

a. The Alliance remains a relevant political force for the unity of our people and an appropriate vehicle for the realisation of the objectives of the national democratic revolution.

b. The Alliance is working well at national level.

This is not just a statement about regular meetings but more about the seriousness with which the Alliance work is taken. Since December 2007 we have held three Alliance Summits, one of which was an Economic Summit.

c. The work of the first two summits contributed in the drafting of the election manifesto. This is the basis for the approach that Alliance partners cannot complain about the implementation of the manifesto. We must take collective responsibility because it was not only drafted jointly but was sold to the electorate as a collective. The third and the last alliance summit spent time in developing the implementation strategy for the priorities as identified in the election manifesto.

d. The decision that an Alliance Political Summit should be convened in the first quarter of 2010 will help bridge the political gaps that are apparent in the Alliance.

Experience abounds that whenever the Alliance partners get together they have the capacity to find each other. In-between the Alliance meetings the tendency to make public pronouncements on differences that are not fundamental distracts us from real issues. We must accept that this is not a tendency that can be decreed out of existence but a matter that needs urgent and serious political attention.

e. The Alliance partners were given an opportunity to make inputs in the list processes and the formation of government, without tempering with the prerogative of the President to put together the cabinet. It is a strategic alliance of independent partners who have the right to influence each other and are open to being influenced. The leadership of the ANC is unquestionable, and has been affirmed and reaffirmed.

2.12 Civil Society and Social Formations

a. One of the critical tasks of the ANC-led Alliance is to mobilise a democratic front for change.

b. Work with various formations in society has improved over the past two years. Among the highlights of the last two years has been the convening of the Mass Democratic Movement Summit and the Religious Leaders' Summit that culminated in the formation of the National Inter-faith Leaders' Council. Through these interactions we have sought to reconnect with various sectors in our society. We have developed relations with traditional leaders in all the provinces, religious groupings, business and professional bodies and many other structures in society. This has strengthened our leadership role and put the ANC in its rightful place in society.

c. Work with the trade union movement has been stepped up as well, with more unions insisting on the ANC to make inputs in their structures, and not only their national congresses.

d. Not enough work has been done in engaging the social movements, many of whom are issue-specific in their programmes. Over time they grew hostile to the movement, but where an effort has been made to engage their attitude has changed, for example, the TAC. Opportunistically, many of the social movements are used by the real ultra-left, who exploit the vacuum left by the movement.

e. The ANC must be more visible in supporting the progressive women's movement. Work in this important structure cannot be relegated to just the ANCWL.

2.13 ANC and Governance

A. ANC: the Strategic Centre of Power

• The ANC as the key strategic centre of power has, on numerous occasions, been reaffirmed.

This understanding informs the movement's approach to deployment, wherein the ANC exercises leadership over the state and society in pursuit of the objectives of the National Democratic Revolution.

B. Deployment

• Our deployment policy is under attack for wrong reasons. Mistakes committed by our structures in deploying cadres have opened the movement to criticism. We have a duty to ensure that when a cadre is deployed, he/she meets the requirements of the post concerned by balancing political integrity and professional competence.

• The NEC has revived the Deployment Committee, chaired by the Deputy President and coordinated by the Deputy Secretary General. Many of the Ministers continue to make senior appointments without even checking and balancing their ideas with the Deployment Committee. This is beginning to spread to board appointments that fall within the jurisdiction of specific Ministries. If this is not addressed, the work of the Deployment Committee will continue to be undermined and become a source of frustration for those deployed in it.

• The deployment of Premiers and the replacement of Mayors are done in terms of the National Conference resolution. This is also the case in the constitution of Provincial Executives and Mayoral Committees. There have been attempts to change this approach and give the Alliance veto powers on deployments. This is either a reflection of the extent of frustration stemming from exclusion of Alliance partners from the work of deployment committee(s) or an outright mischief. The policy is clear that Alliance partners are invited to participate in and influence ANC deployment committee(s).

• As long as deployment is based on the principle of political integrity and professional competence there should be no problem. If we ever drift into making deployment an exercise that seeks to make professional work representative of group interests, seeds of disaster will be sown.

C. ANC Caucuses

• National and provincial caucuses of the ANC cannot be seen as homogenous. We must still develop a coherent approach and formula of ensuring that all caucuses compare notes and share best practices. A National Forum of Chief Whips has already being established for these purposes. The concept of an activist caucus and a one-stop centre for parliamentary constituency offices (PCOS) has been accepted.

• ANC public representatives are beginning to appreciate that good governance and oversight is not the sole responsibility of the opposition.

Difficult questions to Ministers and MECs should, in the main, come from the ANC benches with the intention of helping ANC deployees to perform better. The attitude that it is a sell-out position for ANC public representatives to raise these questions is dangerous to our movement.

• Many of the sessions in parliament, less so in the legislatures, are broadcast live thus communicating with the broader society. This is one of the reasons that ANC public representatives must take them seriously.

Every opportunity to communicate with our people must be used optimally.

D. Public Representatives

• The 52nd National Conference instructed the current NEC to strengthen the guidelines and processes of selecting public representatives "to enhance democratic participation, ensure that we select and deploy the best cadres for public office and involve the broader society in our candidate selection processes."

• Serious effort was made to comply with the content of this resolution in the 2009 list processes. We must however develop a comprehensive framework for involving broader society in the selection of ANC candidates.*

This will make a big difference if this can be implemented in the run-up to the 2011 local government elections. ANC structures must take charge of this process and ensure that members of the ANC select their own candidates, but test the popularity of these candidates in the community as part of mobilising support for them. We must accept that nominating very unpopular candidates, who are members of the ANC, has cost us a number of by-elections. The risk going with this approach is populism replacing competence.

2.14 All these challenges require of us to assess if our structures have the capacity to implement our decisions. These structures must not only do the barest minimum but should continue to improve the ability of the ANC to do what it set itself to carry out.

Source: African National Congress, NEC Bulletin, January 2010

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