[DEBATE] : Zuma's speech

[David McDonald]

..."prosperous" being the key word.  

My sense is that he'll make some moves in the welfarist direction - possibly even a watered down BIG - but will not in any way undermine the general macro stability of the country for capital. Talk left-right, walk right.

David 

 


-----Original Message-----
From: debate-bounces at lists.kabissa.org [mailto:debate-bounces at lists.kabissa.org] On Behalf Of Patrick Bond
Sent: December 20, 2007 10:37 AM
To: discussion list
Subject: [DEBATE] : (Fwd) Zuma's speech

(We are online at CCS discussing this... patricksouthafrica skype will 
get you on)

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, CDE JACOB 
ZUMA, TO THE CLOSING OF THE 52ND NATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE ANC,
POLOKWANE, LIMPOPO PROVINCE 20 DECEMBER 2007

Cde Chairperson,
Cde Deputy President Motlanthe and all officials,
Members of the incoming of the National Executive Committee,
Leadership of the ANC Women’s League and Youth League,
The leadership of our revolutionary alliance the SACP and Cosatu,
Representatives of fraternal parties in SADC and internationally,
Our honoured veterans,
Representatives of the business community, traditional leaders, 
religious and other sectors,
Distinguished guests,
Members of the media:

Dumelang, thobela, molweni!

I stand before you with great humility, as the 12th President of the 
ANC, succeeding an illustrious list of highly capable leaders of our 
movement, who steered the organization to greater heights. The incoming 
NEC collective will do its best to build on the legacy of all past 
presidents, JL Dube, SM Makgatho, ZR Mahabane, JT Gumede, Pixley ka 
Isaka Seme, AB Xuma, JS Moroka, AJ Luthuli, OR Tambo, NR Mandela and TM 
Mbeki. We have come to the end of our historic 52nd national conference, 
which has no doubt been a watershed conference in many respects. The 
outcomes of this conference are of historical significance and will have 
a lasting impact in relation to the nature and character of our 
movement. The 52nd conference has set the scene for centenary 
celebrations in 2012. Our theme, Building a caring society: Advance in 
unity towards 2012, underscores the work that needs to be undertaken in 
preparation for what

will be a colossal milestone for the parliament of the people. Comrades, 
I am called upon to lead this multi-class organization and ruling party, 
succeeding Cde Thabo Mbeki, a comrade, friend and brother. I have known 
and worked with Cde Mbeki for over 30 years. I must confess I never 
thought that the two of us would one day compete for the same position 
in the ANC! however, contesting positions does not make us enemies. The 
conference is now behind us and we will continue to work together to 
unite and build a stronger ANC. There is likely to be anxiety regarding 
the existence of two Presidents – one of state and the other of the 
party. There is no reason for uncertainty or fear in any quarter. Cde 
Mbeki and I, both as members of the ANC first and foremost will develop 
smooth working relations between government and the ruling party, 
assisted by the leadership collective.

We have taken various resolutions at this conference, which will guide 
us on our way forward. ANC policies, including economic policies that 
have been adopted at this conference do not indicate a fundamental shift 
from the policies that the ANC has adopted since it has come into power. 
Let me reiterate that decisions with regards to policies in the ANC are 
taken by conference and not by an individual.

There is therefore no reason why the domestic or international business 
community or any other sector should be uneasy. I tried to calm these 
fears before the conference during my meetings with various business 
groupings at home and abroad. Our resolutions on economic matters will 
bring about closure and certainty on these matters. We have made it 
clear that we need more foreign and domestic investment. We also 
encourage our domestic business community to invest in the local economy 
to encourage the international counterparts to do the same. We also 
remain fully committed to broad based black economic empowerment, to 
increase participation in our economy.

While encouraging the creation of a conducive environment for 
investment, we remain cautious not to compromise the

National Democratic Revolution, which is our guiding philosophy in 
policy formulation and implementation. Our Alliance partners are key 
stakeholders in policy development and implementation. We will be able 
to continue to work together as community, business and labour to find 
workable solutions.

We are also going to sharpen our policy instruments with a view to 
having a direct impact in the fight against poverty, unemployment and 
underdevelopment.

Comrades, the conference has taken an important resolution on agrarian 
revolution, calling for a 30% redistribution of land by 2014 and support 
for subsistence farming and food security while maintaining a productive 
agricultural sector. The interests of the rural poor can only be 
advanced effectively by the people’s movement, while obviously balancing 
them with the growth of the commercial agricultural sector.

One of the challenges that has been affecting economic growth and 
development as well as social stability, is

crime. Our strategy and tactics addresses organized crime as a threat to 
our democratic order. It is a counter revolutionary force which needs to 
be eliminated. I therefore call on all ANC branches to actively lead, 
champion and facilitate crime prevention strategies. We had street 
committees before. If we were able to defeat vigilantism and the 
apartheid system, what can stop us from defeating this ugly factor that 
has tainted our democracy.

All our ANC structures including the two Leagues should also actively 
participate in the fight against HIV and AIDS in all the facets of the 
national strategy – prevention, treatment and providing support to 
families and individuals that are affected and infected. We must live up 
to our slogan and build a caring society that does not discriminate 
against those living with HIV and AIDS, while working to prevent 
infections. This cannot be left to government and the NGO sector alone.

Comrades and friends, we are proud of the fact that we are emerging from 
Polokwane stronger and ready to heal and unite the ANC and face the 
present and the future with greater vigour.

In the political and organizational reports, Cde Mbeki, former President 
of the ANC and Cde Kgalema Motlanthe, former secretary general referred 
to the many unresolved issues that still plague the organization. The 
occurrences

of the first day of conference were indicative of internal problems that 
need to be sorted out without delay. The leadership must not fail to 
address problems within the organization. A lesson we have learnt from 
this conference, is that if the leadership fails to resolve issues, or 
to grasp the feelings of membership on issues that concern the movement 
and instead appears to perpetuate the problems, the membership takes 
over and assert its authority in ways that we may not be comfortable 
with. However we must endeavour to always relate to each other in a 
comradely manner, regardless of how strongly we feel about issues.

Going forward, we commit ourselves as the incoming NEC collective that 
we will never allow any problem to go unresolved. Every problem or issue 
must be discussed thoroughly and be resolved to the satisfaction of all 
concerned. Comrades one of the tangible achievements of the conference 
is that it managed to maintain and restore the ANC philosophy and 
ideology that the ANC branches are supreme. Delegates came to Polokwane 
with mandates from branches, and they carried out the mandate they had 
been given when they cast their votes. With that process having been 
finalized, we need to remember that this was not an

ANC Conference of victors and losers. As the newly elected NEC we will 
endeavour to work with all the comrades who did not make it to this NEC 
to ensure that the unity of the ANC is strengthened. We are all ANC 
members who just happened to prefer a different set of leadership 
collectives as it is our democratic right. It is our collective task to 
repair whatever damage or harm may have been caused as we were building 
up towards the conference. Let me emphasise that the leadership 
collective will serve the entire membership of the ANC, regardless of 
whether a person voted for Thabo Mbeki or Jacob Zuma or any other member 
or leader. We cannot have a Zuma camp or a Mbeki

camp, there is only one ANC. None among us is above the organization or 
bigger than the ANC.

Comrades, the conference has aptly demonstrated the commitment of the 
ANC to gender equality. We congratulate the ANC Women’s League on its 
efforts to assert the voice and rights of women in ANC decision making 
processes. Our Constitution has been unanimously amended to increase the 
women quota in our structures, from 30 to 50 percent. In addition, our 
commitment goes beyond the constitutional amendment. For the first time 
in our history, we have included a special clause that deals with 
patriarchal oppression. We have committed ourselves to the creation of 
the material and cultural conditions that would allow the abilities of 
women to develop full potential and enrich the life of the nation. The 
ANC’s fundamental policies, culture and attitudes are based on 
anti-racism and anti-tribalism. The election results for the six 
officials are therefore not surprising, as they demonstrate clearly that 
those elected had the support of the largest majority of ANC branches 
throughout th
e
country. They represent people from all racial, class, gender and 
religious backgrounds. Most importantly, the conference has reminded us 
that unity is one of the central pillars of our movement.

Our father, stalwart and icon, Isithwalandwe Cde Nelson Mandela outlined 
the importance of unity eloquently in a

message to the ANC in exile after the 1976 uprising. He said: “Every 
effort to divide the blacks, to woo and pit one black group against 
another must be vigorously repulsed. Our people - African, Coloured, 
Indian and democratic whites must be united into a single massive and 
solid wall of resistance, of united mass action… This is not the time 
for the luxury of division and disunity at all levels. In every walk of 
life, we must close ranks. Within the ranks of the people, differences 
must be submerged to the achievement of a single goal, the complete 
overthrow of apartheid and racist domination’’. In a message sent to the 
ANC during the Kabwe conference, Madiba again reminded us that unity is 
the rock upon which the ANC was founded. This message was relevant then, 
it is still relevant to us today. We have to confront the issue of unity 
in the same manner that Madiba instructed the ANC in 1976 and 1985. 
Comrades, this conference has also reaffirmed the need for the continu
ed
existence of our Tripartite Alliance. This proves the correctness of the 
statement made by Inkosi Albert Luthuli when he said that the ANC is the 
shield and SACTU the spear. This is the nature of the ANC-SACP-COSATU 
Alliance relationship. This alliance is based on mutual trust and 
respect and should be defended and protected by all ANC members. Coming 
out of this conference we have a clear mandate to build and strengthen 
the alliance, to nurture it and defend it. We look forward to the 
Alliance Summit that has been mooted by our Deputy President, Cde Motlanthe.

Comrades, the ANC has always had the fortune of having a vibrant and 
robust Youth League. The League remains consistent in pursuit of what 
they believe is right, in defence of the ANC and democracy. The Youth 
League continues to play its role as a historical agent of change and 
the source of energy for the ANC.

As stated in the organizational report, the ANC Youth League is a 
breeding ground for future leaders of the ANC. This has to be encouraged 
and maintained for the growth of the organization.

Comrades, the mandate arising from this 52nd conference is clear: As a 
collective and through our structures, we need to create a united ANC 
that recognizes the legacy left by comrades OR Tambo, Albert Luthuli and 
Nelson Mandela.

We need to heal the ANC. We must also work with government and other 
sectors to build a caring society. Most importantly, we need to position 
our branches and structures at the centre of the NDR, because the ANC is 
a people centred and people driven organization.

We must strengthen democracy through making the ANC the leader of 
development and service delivery. We must build the capacity of our 
branches, so that they can drive and influence the development of their 
local communities. We have to strengthen the relationships with 
organized business so that we continue growing the South African 
economy. Clearly, we have a lot of work to do. Let me extend our 
heartfelt gratitude to the Limpopo Province and the University of 
Limpopo for their excellent hospitality. I am delighted that the 52nd 
conference of the ANC was held in Limpopo, as this province is the home 
of the former President of the ANC, Cde Sefako Mapogo Makgatho who led 
the movement from 1917 to 1924. Cde Makgatho came from GaMphahlele. The 
province is also home to many outstanding cadres of our movement, such 
as Peter Nchabeleng, Elias Motsoaledi, Lawrence Phukanuka, Ntante 
Mampuru, Mark Shope, Cde Maleka, Flag Boshielo and Makgapatona. The 
younger generation included Peter Mokaba, Ignatius Mathebula, Ngoako 
Ramalepe, Frank Mohlala and Norman Mashabane. We also warmly welcome 
Limpopo veterans such as TT Tsholo, Ike Maphoto, Josh Phala, Parapara 
Mothupi, John Nkadimeng, Nelson Diale and Rashaka Ratshitanga. Our most 
sincere gratitude is extended to our comrades and friends in fraternal 
parties in SADC such as SWAPO, FRELIMO, MPLA and ZANU-PF and others. We 
also thank the representatives of international fraternal parties such 
as the Communist Party of Cuba, and others who graced the conference. I 
hope they all witnessed how internal democracy plays itself out in the ANC.

Most importantly, we salute isithwalandwe, Madiba whose message of 
support inspired and encouraged us. We look forward to his continued 
support and guidance.

Comrades and friends, the incoming NEC and I accept the mandate you have 
given us with a full understanding that you can withdraw it at any time, 
if you feel that we are not serving you in a manner that you want to be 
served. That is the essence of democracy. Leaders lead through the will 
and graciousness of the people.

To those Muslim citizens of our country, who are today celebrating the 
day of Eid, I wish you Eid Mubarak and a blessed and joyous day.

We also wish all the delegates a safe journey home, a joyous festive 
season and prosperous New Year.

Amandla! Matla!