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President Jacob Zuma wrapped up his presidency of the ANC in a speech that kicked off the party’s 54th elective conference. Here are a few quotes from Friday night:
“Let me emphasise that we need to find ways of protecting the ANC from corporate greed and ensure that the decisions we take are informed by the policies of the ANC and are not dictated to by business interests. Already we have received threats that the ANC will implode and the economy will collapse if certain outcomes arise from this conference – be it conference resolutions on the economy or the leadership elected – if these are not those favoured by business.”
“The 54th national conference is taking place at a time when our movement is at a crossroads. While we identify corporate greed as posing a serious threat to the ANC, we also need to look at internal dynamics within our organisation which makes it possible for external influences to pose a threat to the organisation. The negative tendencies that have been creeping, since the dawn of our democracy in April 1994, into the ANC have intensified over the years. They have now come to a head and are threatening the survival of the ANC.”
“The ANC government has made considerable progress in the past five years, especially in establishing a strong policy and legislative framework with regard to such matters as land tenure and the shift from ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ to ‘just and equitable’.”
“Among the key obstacles to transformation are the high levels of concentration in the economy as well as the collusion or corporate corruption and cartels. Comrades will know the deep and bitter legacy of economic collusion, which is equivalent to a form of corruption, from the days of apartheid, when companies meet secretly and decide on prices or divide markets among themselves. These cartels squeeze out small players and hamper the entry of young entrepreneurs and black industrialists. Theft and corruption in the private sector is as bad as that in government and must be dealt with decisively by law enforcement agencies. The allegations made against some sections of the business community regarding the said capture of the state to advance business interests, will be probed further in a judicial commission of inquiry that we committed to establish as the ANC some time ago, in order to uncover the truth.”
“Ill discipline has also continued to afflict the ANC and has taken new forms in the recent past, bordering on members publicly challenging the authority of the organisation. There have also been worse incidents of ill discipline, where members openly side with, and work with, opposition parties and other formations that are hostile to the ANC, against positions adopted by the movement. The danger also exists for factional and personal interests to play themselves out in Parliament, to the extent of the ruling party even voting itself out of power if this is left unchecked. We should also continuously guard against the use of Parliament to entrench colonial and apartheid privilege and the exclusion of the majority from the enjoyment of the benefits of citizenship.”
“We should also be mindful of the fact that the media is an active participant with vested interests, rather than an impartial and fair observer on ANC organisational matters. The mobilisation of the media against the country and the ANC – from Johannesburg to London, New York and Washington, DC – has gained momentum in recent months. We need to reflect on how to communicate with our people in a climate where forces hostile to the ANC control the means and platforms of communication.”
“The role of the judiciary also requires reflection, especially in relation to the need to protect the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. In all its manifestations, factionalism has become the biggest threat to the organisation. It is because of factionalism that we have seen the emergence of splinter groups over the past 10 years which negatively affected our movement... Slate politics, another manifestation of factionalism, has also cost us many good and capable comrades in whom our movement has invested significantly.”
“We need to reaffirm the authority of the organisation over its individual members. There should be consequences for any member who acts and speaks contrary to the values, principles and political programme of the ANC.”
