ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT JG ZUMA TO KZN PROVINCIAL GENERAL COUNCIL, UNIVERSITY OF KZN DURBAN WESTVILLE, March 22 2013
Comrade Chairperson and Treasurer-General, Cde Zweli Mkhize,
Members of the National Executive Committee,
Members of the Provincial Executive Committee,
Members of the Regional Executive Committees,
Representatives of the Alliance partners,
Comrades Delegates to the PGC,
Sanibonani nonke!
I bring special greetings from the National Executive Committee to this special Provincial General Council of the KZN province.
This Provincial General Council takes place just less than three months after the ANC celebrated its 101 years anniversary in the city of eThekwini. We commend the leadership and membership of the province for ensuring that the celebration becomes a resounding success.
Comrades, we meet just a day after marking Human Rights Day, which commemorates the supreme sacrifices made by our people for freedom in Sharpeville, kwaNobuhle, kwaLanga and many other areas.
Ngosuku lwamalungelo abantu sikhumbula futhi abaningi abafela inkululeko emazweni, emajele obandlululo, kanye nalabo ababulawa ngezikhathi zodlame lapha kwaZulu-Natal.
Usuku lokubonga ukuthi sakwazi ukuphumelela sayithola inkululeko esasiyilwela, sakha umthethosisekelo oqhakambisa amalungelo abantu.
Ngalezizinsuku abantu baye bavuselele ukuziqhenya kwabo ngenhlangano yabo uKhongolose eyaletha inkululeko.
Given its modesty, the ANC is not claiming the gains of our freedom as loudly as it should.
Next year we will be marking 20 years of freedom. We will be looking back at what we have achieved in 20 years and recommit ourselves to strengthen and build the ANC and our country.
Comrades,
At the 53rd national conference in Mangaung we committed ourselves to unity in action towards socio-economic freedom.
To achieve economic transformation we need a strong and united ANC. The ANC is the pulse of the nation and it is a way of life for our people.
It is the only organisation that has the policies and programmes that can change South Africa for the better.
Therefore, it is good that the ANC is growing as that indicates that the faith of our people in this movement remains unwavering.
When we went to the 52nd National Conference in Polokwane the ANC had a total membership of six hundred and twenty one thousand and two hundred and thirty seven (621,237).
By the time we reached the National General Council in Durban in 2010 our membership stood at seven hundred and forty nine thousand and one hundred and twelve (749, 112) members.
This represented a growth by one hundred and twenty seven and eight hundred and seventy five (127 875) since December 2007.
In January 2012 the membership stood at 1 027 389 members in good standing and by the time we reached Mangaung, the ANC had more than 1,2 million members. Clearly this organisation is loved by the people of our country.
Therefore, the country looks to this growing ANC to produce policies that will lead to economic growth, decent work and the eradication of poverty and inequality.
We have produced such policies. Our economic transformation resolutions from Polokwane to Mangaung are designed to achieve employment creating growth and to ensure that the growth is inclusive.
Therefore, the ANC can no longer afford to be inward looking. It must lead the whole country towards socio-economic emancipation.
And we believe we are more than ready to do so.
The Mangaung conference was a watershed conference that drew a line against ill-discipline, factionalism and all other negative tendencies.
The ANC emerged from Mangaung stronger and ready to stamp its authority in every structure of the organisation, in order to restore the core values of the movement and its position as the leader of society.
What stood out about that conference as well was the high levels of discipline and order. We proved that our movement remains an epitome of democracy and political maturity in the manner in which the conference was conducted.
Mangaung went smoothly and successfully despite the so-called wise predictions from some sections of the media and analysts who were saying authoritatively that the ANC would implode in Mangaung.
Mangaung was the first conference in our second century and so it had to succeed and set the tone for the future.
The conference had to deal not only with leadership questions but also with decisive policies which truly mark the second phase of our long drawn transition from Colonialism of a Special Type to a National Democratic Society.
One of the achievements of Mangaung was the adoption of the National Development Plan.
The overarching plan will serve as a blueprint for South Africa's development over the next 17 years until 2030. The plan received overwhelming support in Mangaung and was duly adopted by consensus. As we said before, having a long term planning blueprint creates certainty about where we are going and how we intend to go there.
This overarching plan offers a holistic approach to dealing with the triple challenges of high unemployment, grinding poverty and deepening inequality. The plan also reaffirms the centrality of a developmental state in dealing with these challenges and marks a necessary departure from ad hoc planning.
This broad policy framework will be supported by critical instruments and policy initiatives which drive the government's medium term policy agenda such as the National Infrastructure Plan, the New Growth Path and the Industrial Policy Action Plan.
All our efforts must now be channelled towards the implementation of the Plan.
Comrade Chairperson,
The implementation of our programmes and the consequent success of the National Democratic Revolution depend on the strategic capacity of the movement and the government it leads to deliver on the tasks of the revolution.
As a country, we are in the second phase of the transition and this phase requires a new cadre whose orientation is anchored on organizational discipline and commitment to the service of the people.
It is in this context that Mangaung resolved to declare the next decade as a decade of the cadre in which there will be key focus on the ideological, political, academic and moral training of a critical mass of ANC members.
The practical expression of this resolution will include, among other things, the development and circulation to all branches of a code of conduct booklet as well as the constitution of the Integrity Commission.
Let us take this opportunity to gladly report that the Integrity Commission has been duly constituted by the NEC and is led by Isithwalandwe Cde Andrew Mlangeni.
We are confident that this will go a long way in restoring the historic values on which our glorious movement was founded.
They will help us promote and maintain our core values, namely unity, selflessness, sacrifice, collective leadership, humility, honesty, discipline, hard work, internal debates, constructive criticism and mutual respect.
Let me underline comrades that the unity of the ANC is sacrosanct, not only for the survival of the ANC itself but also for the stability and cohesion of our society in general.
Let me remind this PGC of what Isithwalandwe President Nelson Mandela said in his message to the Kabwe conference of 1985. He said:
"Unity is the rock on which the African National Congress was founded; it is the principle which has guided us down the years as we feel our way forward.
"In the course of its history, the ANC has survived countless storms and risen to eminence partly because of the sterling qualities of its membership; and partly because each member has regarded himself or herself as the principal guardian of that unity. All discussions, contributions and criticism have generally been balanced and constructive and, above all, they have been invariably subjected to the over-riding principle of maximum unity. To lose sight of this basic principle is to sell our birthright, to betray those who paid the highest price so that the ANC should flourish and triumph".
We reaffirm our commitment to Madiba's words and this message of unity should be promoted to the scores of new members of the ANC who continue to swell the ranks of the movement.
Political education remains paramount to ensure that these new members are schooled in the cultures and traditions of the ANC.
As part of restoring the values of the movement, we are busy implementing the resolutions of conference relating to organisational renewal and organisation building.
You will recall that although 2012 was a highly remarkable year with regards to rebuilding and renewing the organisation on the ground as part of celebrating our centenary, relations between the ANC and some of its structures including the ANC Youth League became cumbersome. Conference assigned the NEC to handle the matter of the youth league.
In the interest of maximum unity and cohesion in the ANC, the NEC collective decided to dissolve the NEC of the Youth League precisely because of its continued ill-disciplined behaviour which has brought the organization into disrepute on numerous occasions.
On the same measure, we further decided to dissolve the Limpopo PEC because of institutionalized factionalism which is un-ANC.
We encourage all our structures to draw positive lessons from this experience and forge ahead with the selfless struggle to make the lives of our people better.
Tomorrow we will officiate at the Limpopo PGC to report back and discuss the way forward.
Comrades, I am sharing this with you to make a point that as we begin the decade of the cadre, we should not allow anything to stand on the way of organizational unity, discipline and cohesion.
Let me take this opportunity to commend the comrades in erstwhile leadership of the Youth League and also the former Limpopo PEC for the manner in which they have responded to this directive from the organisation.
They have respected the decision with humility and discipline. They have behaved in a manner that we expect ANC cadres to behave, to respect the authority of the organisation.
Those who were in the disbanded structures remain members of the ANC and will participate in the activities of the organisation.
It is encouraging that the comrades are acting within the discipline of the organisation. The time for divisive and polarising political rhetoric is over. We must build the ANC.
The time for leaking information to the media and using journalists to divide the ANC must also come to an end. Already we are seeing progress in this regard.
Next is the need to work on developing strict coordination of content and messages between all structures of the organisation so that ANC members do not communicate messages that are at variance with ANC policy and positions.
We need to unite all our people behind our vision which is the creation of the National Democratic Society based on socio-economic freedom for all. This is an absolutely important task of our revolution in the current phase.
Comrades,
Next year as we mark the 20th anniversary of our democratic breakthrough, we will also be having the 5th democratic general elections. The ANC, the Alliance and the Mass Democratic Movement as a whole will once again have to mobilise the millions of our people to go and defend the gains of this hard won democracy at the polls.
We must prove to our people in word and in action that the ANC remains the only organisation capable of mobilising the broadest strata of society for fundamental social transformation.
Needless to say, in order to retain an overwhelming majority, we need the maximum unity of purpose within the ANC and amongst Alliance partners demonstrated by many voices but one message.
We need unity and cohesion. That is why we commend the KZN province for working hard to achieve unity in the province which has led to enormous success both in the ANC and governance.
The ANC in this province has tripled its membership. In 2007 when we went to Polokwane KZN stood at 102 742. The province went to Mangaung with a membership of more than 300 000 which indicates good organisational work on the ground.
There has been a corresponding growth in electoral support for the ANC in KZN. We moved from 32% in 1994 to 48% in 2004 and the phenomenal jump to 62% in the 2009 national general elections.
We are convinced that other than the attractiveness of the ANC to our people in the province because of history and policies, it is also the ANC's success in governance that draws so many people into the organisation in this province.
The ANC in this province has emphasised good governance and financial prudence and has focused very strongly on service delivery and intensified communication with the public.
The strategy of hosting community izimbizo has proven to be extremely helpful to the community as they are able to engage ANC MECs regularly and raise their concerns and suggestions.
At any given time when listening to Ukhozi FM, one is bound to hear announcements of forthcoming izimbizo. Comrades do not just sit in the office, they go to the masses. This has partly assisted to prevent massive public service delivery protests.
We congratulate you for prioritising communication with our people as you do in this province.
That is what the ANC is all about. It is an organisation that is in touch with the people.
We congratulate this province as well in the mature manner in which the leadership question has been handled in recent conferences. You have demonstrated that the unity of the ANC and its cohesion is more important than who is at the helm.
That is an important spirit because the ANC is not about fighting for positions. It is about sacrifice, dedication and commitment.
Comrades,
Let me conclude by congratulating the outgoing chairperson, Khabazela, on your election to the position of Treasurer-General.
Under your leadership, the ANC in this province grew to become the biggest in the country in terms of membership numbers.
The organisation is strong and is still growing, and the ANC enjoys the support of an overwhelming majority of the people of KZN. This indicates sound leadership in the province.
We congratulate you and the entire leadership collective for these achievements.
We also congratulate the leadership of the SACP and COSATU in the province for the positive spirit of collaboration.
The ANC could not have achieved such success working alone without the support of the Alliance partners.
The unity of the Alliance is paramount and necessary to enable us to confront successfully the challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment that continue to afflict our people.
We wish the KZN province well on its continuing growth path.
May you all continue to inspire the people of KZN and draw even more of them into the ranks of the ANC.
Amandla!
Matla!
All power!
Issued by ANC KwaZulu-Natal, March 22 2013
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
