The ANC’s 55th national conference – held on 16 December at Nasrec – is of great importance to all South Africans. This is because, in South Africa’s one-party dominant democracy, real power lies not in parliament, but in the ANC’s five-yearly national conference.
In the national conference, and not in the parliament, the leadership of the country is decided, and the guidelines of the future policy are established.
The conference was adjourned on December 20 and reconvened on January 5 to adopt the resolution – the contents of which have still not been made public.
The national conference center emerged clearly at the 52nd national conference in Polokwane in December 2007. The “wounded coalition” – led by the South African Communist Party (SACP), the trade union federation Cosatu, the ANC Youth League and others. opposed the then president Thabo Mbeki – winning the support of 60% of the delegates – and thus was able to seize control of the ANC.
The victory quickly led to the death of Mbeki and his Orthodox Gear macroeconomic policies and the end of the Xhosa ranks in the ANC. More seriously, it paved the way for radical economic transformation, rampant corruption and then President Jacob Zuma’s attempt to seize control of key state institutions and state-owned enterprises.
At the 54th national conference in 2017, Cyril Ramaphosa won the presidency of the ANC by a few votes against Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, who many observers believe is the successor to his ex-husband and the faction that has led the ANC since 2007.
The 55th national conference will also have a significant impact on South Africa. The 4 426 voting delegates elected Ramaphosa for another term as ANC president with a comfortable majority of 56.62% against former health minister Zweli Mkhize – who is widely considered to be the candidate of the RET (radical economic transformation) faction.
The delegates also elected seven key ANC leaders, including Paul Mashatile as deputy president; Gwede Mantashe (chairman of the SACP and minister of resources and energy) is the national chairman; Fikile Mbalula (transportation minister) as secretary general; Nomvula Mokonyane (former Gauteng premier) was the first deputy secretary-general; Maropene Ramokgopa is the second deputy secretary general; and Gwen Ramokgopa (former mayor of Tshwane) as treasurer general.
The strengthening of Ramaphosa’s position – with strong support in the new leadership team – was generally welcomed by the market and most South Africans as the best outcome of a number of worse outcomes. An anomaly, the top seven did not include a single representative from KwaZulu-Natal – despite the fact that the province sent more delegates to the national conference than any other province.
Ramaphosa emerged from the national conference in a stronger position. The ANC is surrounding him as its best electoral prospect for 2024 and the Phala Phala scandal – which appeared to be a career-killing threat just weeks ago – is now receding rapidly into the background.
However, the campaign to restore the integrity of the ANC – which is central to the platform to “renew” the organization – will be seriously, and perhaps fatally, complicated by the elections for the top seven and 80 national members. executive committee of a significant number of cadres that have been tainted with corruption by the Zondo Commission.
The outcome of another national conference’s main task of charting the ANC’s course for the next five years will not be clear until it issues a resolution, which has yet to be released. Of particular interest will be the resolution of the ANC’s “step-aside” policy for members who have been charged with criminal offences.
The general outline that the resolution will follow, however, has been written in the proposal of the July 2022 policy conference and in Ramaphosa’s statement at the end of the first session of the conference.
The policy conference is based on the recommendations of the latest iteration of the ANC’s strategy and tactics document, which sets out the organisation’s ideological assessment of the progress made with the national democratic revolution (NDR) since the previous national conference.
This includes an analysis of the balance of forces and the steps to be taken to correct the mistakes that hinder progress towards a national democratic society – the ANC’s shining city on the hill – which will have a mixed economy where jobs, land and wealth. will be divided based on demographic proportionality, thus resolving national grievances caused by colonialism and apartheid.
The strategy and tactics document included a strong Marxist class analysis, criticism of the West, capitalism and neoliberalism, as well as expressions of concern about the influence of corrupt “lumpen” class elements in support for the ANC.
The bad news is that the ANC is still loyal to the NDR and, 29 years after 1994, continues “the struggle against colonialism of a special type (of South African skin) that frees black people in general, and Africans in particular.” is a strategic intent.
The good news is that the ANC remains committed to the Constitution and constitutional democracy – against increasing demands for “parliamentary democracy” where a majority in parliament will be able to do what it wants.
In his speech, Ramaphosa returned to the NDR. He referred to the conference’s discussion of proposals “that will accelerate radical social and economic transformation” and deliberation “on the actions that must be taken, once and for all, to overcome the original sin of land dispossession”.
The conference “agreed on measures to accelerate land reform … not only because justice demands it, but because it is a necessary condition for inclusive economic growth.”
As is often the case these days, there is a gap between rhetoric and reality in the way the ANC is proposing to move forward:
- There is a vision to speed up the “rollout of mobile and fiber infrastructure in rural and urban areas” in countries that have reduced ability to generate basic electricity.
- There was a recognition of the “need to resolve the load-shedding crisis” in the conference that was recently elected as national chairman Mantashe – which has precipitated Andre de Ruyter’s resignation from Eskom by accusing him of conspiring to overthrow the country. Mantashe, who opposes the transition from coal-fired power stations, also strongly disagrees with De Ruyter’s view that green energy is a long-term solution to the energy crisis.
- The president, who for years headed the ANC’s deployment committee, stressed that “we must employ people because they are competent and loyal, not because they are connected”. At the same time, the call for a “new cadre” of recruits raises serious doubts about the will and ability to deal with one of the main causes of dysfunction in the state and state-owned enterprises.
This sense of unreality continues into the ANC’s January 8 birthday statement, a melange of nostalgia for the revolutionary struggle and a wish list of all the things that must be done to achieve a better life for the increasingly desperate majority of the South. African.
One of the correct comments in Ramaphosa’s closing statement at the national conference was the acknowledgment that “corruption in the ANC is a serious threat to the continued existence of our organization and the future of the NDR”.
In his second term as president of the ANC, he must consider how to achieve the two main contradictory goals of bringing about the integrity and renewal of the organization on the one hand – and maintaining the unity of the ANC on the other. If his previous performance is any guide, he will continue to pay lip service to both goals.
The reality that the president has to deal with is that there continue to be many people in the top leadership of the ANC who have been tainted by corruption. However, as he warned, “this conference has recognized, we have no choice – we can deal with corruption or die”.
He was absolutely right. If the ANC does not deal with corruption – and if it does not reconsider the harmful impact of the ideology of the NDR on the prospects of economic growth and social welfare – the 55th national conference may be the last opportunity that will have the power to determine the future leadership and policy of the country.
Winning back the confidence of South Africans will be the most difficult task for the ANC and will require action that puts the interests of the people and the country before the party.
Dave Steward is chairman of the FW de Klerk Foundation