30 YEARS OF UDF - A CALL FOR A NATIONAL SOCIAL COMPACT

The formation of the United Democratic Front (UDF), 30 years ago, was the outcome of the work done by the ANC and many activities from various formations within the country.

The historic establishment of the UDF was contextualised as part of the implementation of four pillars of the struggle adopted by the ANC Morogoro National Consultative Conference in 1969.

We affirm the theoretical and programmatic relationship between the formation of the UDF and the ANC necessarily because of late it has become fashionable to create a disjuncture between the ANC and other activities that happened inside the country while the ANC was banned.

There have been attempts to underestimate the role of the ANC in influencing and directing the 1976 students uprising and it may possible that some would want to delink the formation of the UDF from the historic evolution of the South African Revolution led by the ANC. These efforts, wittingly or unwittingly, feed to an impression that the ANC in exile was just doing nothing to lead activities that were unfolding within the country.

At all material time, the revolution has witnessed attempts that seek to suggest that the revolution can be totally attained overnight. Our revolution has proved that adventurism is not a solution but instead can derail the struggle. The period between Morogoro and the formation of UDF and other progressive and revolutionary movement within the country teaches that the revolution might be prolong and mountainous but the resilience and strategic focus remain crucial if we are to succeed.

But why a united front? This was a call and expression that to defeat apartheid colonialism, the revolution needed to unite all fronts and formations. The UDF brought together all formations such as youth, women, and religious, NGOs, cultural etc. This resonated with the long held view that the people are their own liberators.

Indeed this was not the first of its kind; the 1947 Three Doctors' Pact brought together different racial groups and served as a precursor to the historic 1952 defiance campaign which reverberated throughout country.

All those who participated in the formation of the UDF had a shared vision, that of defeating the apartheid system and create a state build on values and principles of democracy based on the will of the people.

After 30 years since the formation of the UDF, a question is what is the vision that brings together South Africans in general but revolutionaries in particular? Since the dawn of democracy our country has been grappling with the task of expediting the programme of socio-economic transformation to ensure elimination of poverty, inequality and unemployment.

In totality the National Democratic Society constitute an ideal state with strive to achieve. These three challenges have been defined as the main enemies of our revolution. Thus in whatever we do, we ought to mobilise and lead people and the country in endeavours to eliminate these challenges.

Recently there have been serious grievances about the lack of progress on transformation; some are genuinely arising from the challenging conditions under which the majority of our country live. The task of the movement in such cases becomes more crucial - whether it remains frozen and do not respond to such challenges or it gets involved and work with the concerned sectors and communities to address such problems.

We must be realistic and deal with issues as they emerge and avoid reductionist approach of underestimating the dire challenges. At the same time, we must all understand that some of challenges will not be addressed overnight. Thus striking balance between what our society wants and what is possible to deliver is important.

There is no one who does not appreciate the need for a democratic society - and indeed there is no one who does not appreciate the need for equality as much as no one is opposed to non-racialism and non-sexism. We therefore need to ask ourselves why we turn to disintegrate to sectoral interests at the expense of a strategic vision we ought to pursue. I strongly believe that the following factors constitute response to this state of affairs:

Transparency & Accountability: we need to ensure that there is transparency in whatever we do, in particular at all spheres of government. All Government spheres must work with communities openly and ensure that they are integral part of all government programmes. We should also enhance the programme that seeks to ensure accountability to people.

Good Governance: we must strive to ensure that all government spheres work effectively and are free of corruption, nepotism and any other form of favouritism. Thus enhancing the work of law enforcement authorities becomes crucial. There have been attempts of projecting some law enforcements authorities as anti-ANC. All institutions including the Public Protector and others have been established by the very same constitution and mandate of the ANC.

Effective service delivery: the persistent triple challenges we have highlighted above continue to obliterate the lives of many South Africa. Government must embark on a dedicated programme to extricate the majority of the people who lives in poverty.

Economic Transformation: There should be deliberate efforts in this regard; history tells us that during the mind 1920s the Government deliberately embarked on jobs creation programme for uneducated whites. We can no longer afford to live in society where a great section of our people is defined as unemployable. While our government must play its role, we must do away with a syndrome of believing that we can do some work and we cannot do others. There is a perception that economic transformation programme is designed to cater for few. There should be deliberate efforts to ensure economic integration of majority of the people of our country inside. This programme must entail skills development.

Unlike many views of the prophets of doom, South Africa has scored a lot since 1994; but equally there is still a long journey towards the attainment of a National Democratic Society. No amount of adventurism will provide solutions to problems facing our country. South Africa needs all of its citizenry to unity for a good cause, the National Development Plan is an overarching framework that must unite all of us. While the NDP may have some shortcomings, such must be discussed whist the implementation on areas where we all agree continues.

In essence, South Africa needs a National Compact which will unite and define tasks for all sectors in particular government, labour, civil society and business sector. Former President Nelson Mandela once said "united we stand, divided we fall". The unity of a forces and formation which were under the banner of UDF is still required if we are to attain a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, united and prosperous country with a human and caring society.

Sihle Zikalala is ANC KZN Provincial Secretary. He writes in his personal capacity

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