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The deliberate policy of successive colonial and apartheid administrations were to divide and rule black people. A myriad of legal and constitutional laws were passed to enforce the divide and rule strategy which found its definite expression in the South Act 1909 and a host of land, labour and residential legislation.

In 1948 the Nationalist party formalized these racially discriminatory laws into an inhuman system of apartheid based on the doctrine of white supremacy. This ideology deepened and entrenched the separation of blacks from whites and suppression of blacks by whites.

The democratic breakthrough of 1994 offered us the first opportunity to overcome this legacy of colonialism and apartheid and in particular discrimination based on race, class and gender. In the same year (1994), our icon, Nelson Mandela, laid a firm foundation for building an inclusive and cohesive nation:

"We know it well, that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world."

Madiba identified our common humanity (ubuntu/botho), peace, development and justice for all as the hallmarks of the desired New Nation. He taught us that the desired social and economic transformation could not be achieved without spiritual transformation.

There is abundant evidence that the ANC is making progress in the transformation of our society. It could be said without any fear of contradiction that the dark night of apartheid colonialism is receding, making way for the birth of a non-racial, non-sexist, united, democratic and prosperous nation in which the value of every citizen is measured by our common humanity. This is of critical importance because the recovery of our common humanity has been a guiding tenet of the ANC for many decades of its existence.

President Jacob Zuma made our common humanity (ubuntu) a central feature of his administration out of the realization that a nation without a value system is built on sand. President Zuma understood that the recovery of our humanity and its inherent values is not something that you just pay lip service to - it must be translated into reality. Thus he created a dynamic link between the recovery of our humanity and the five ANC priorities and government plans of action. More specifically, President Zuma correctly pointed out that:

decent work and the steady improvement of the quality of life are essential for the recovery of the humanity of all.
empowerment through access to quality education and skills development is critical.

Similarly important, President Zuma correctly observed that safer water, affordable energy, decent shelter, cohesive, secure and vibrant communities are equally important for the recovery of the humanity of all.

President Zuma understood that human dignity is at the heart of our common humanity and that therefore we must treat one another with respect, have a public service that places the people first (Batho pele) and a government that makes access to economic opportunities accessible to all South Africans, regardless of race, class and gender.

The restoration of the dignity of all South Africans is critical for meeting one of the demands of the Freedom Charter of 1955 that says, "land shall be shared by those who work it". Spurred by the values the president told the NEC Lekgotla that:

"Everything we do this year must be designed to help us achieve this goal. Therefore we must make economic transformation our national project and we have to rally the whole country behind this national priority as we did with education, health, and the fight against crime"

The ANC told parliament that the achievement of this visionary and revolutionary agenda could not be achieved without the transformation of parliament. We will have no excuse for failing to transform this institution because we are the majority party in parliament.

What do we mean by the Transformation of Parliament? Our democracy is both representative and participatory. The structures that we establish like sectoral parliaments must promote both representative and participatory democracy. Sectoral parliaments including youth, women and religious parliaments should be driven by public representatives, not officials.

We cannot transform parliament without an activist ANC Caucus. The ANC is the only organization in parliament that has a transformative agenda. It is therefore imperative that the ANC sets a transformation agenda for parliament.

What are the organs of an Activist Parliament? Parliament has an obligation to provide a public platform for consideration of issues, debates and education. Besides sectoral parliaments, including youth, women and religious parliament, the organs of an activist parliament will include the Nation Building and Heritage Committee, One Stop Centre Parliamentary Constituency Offices and peoples Assemblies.

The primary focus of organs of an Activist Parliament is to make parliament legislatures and councils instruments of Nation Building and Heritage Development. They will achieve this by reaching out to society as whole, especially marginalized sectors such as rural youth and women. The organs will also enhance the oversight role of parliament by liberating the voice of the masses and making it to be heard and heeded in the corridors of power.

The One Stop Centre PCO's, in particular, ensures policy co-ordination, collaboration and integration of programmes across the three spheres of the legislative sector. This is achieved by bringing all public representatives including MPs MPLs and Clrs under one roof and establishing satellite offices in the remotest rural areas.

The PCO's and organs of the Activist Parliament in general will ensure that community issues obtained by public representatives are formalized in parliament legislatures and councils and raised with the executive for consideration and response by all three spheres of government and other organs of the State.

The ANC has set out to build a New Nation based on Ubuntu Values and principles. Organs of the activist parliament could play a major role in the cultivation of Ubuntu Values and Principles through interaction and engagement with communities especially youth, women, intellectuals and various sectors such as the National Interfaith Movement.