Speaking notes by the president of the African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, to the China Executive Leadership Academy in Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China.

Mr Li Jinjun, Vice-Minister for International Development and CPC Central
Committee Member,
Members of the Communist Party of China Central Executive Committee,
HE the Chinese Ambassador to South Africa, Zhong Jianhua,
The ANC Delegation,
Distinguished guests,

It is a great honour to have been invited to meet and interact with you, the
leaders and cadres of the Communist Party of China.

Allow me from the onset, to reiterate on behalf of the ANC and our people in
general, our deepest condolences on the tragic loss of life caused by the
earthquake in the Siuchon province. We wish the Chinese people strength as
you confront the trauma, loss of life and the devastation. We are one
people, your pain is our pain, and your loss is our loss.

South Africa and China may be half a world apart geographically, and we may
have very different histories, but there is much that we have in common, and
much that we can learn from each other.

South Africa is currently in its 14th year of democracy. The historic
democratic breakthrough of 1994 - which saw the defeat of the apartheid
system - ushered in a new dawn with unprecedented opportunities for peace,
progress and development.
We owe the freedom achieved in 1994 to both the struggles of our people, and
also the international solidarity received from fraternal movements such as
the CPC. China supported liberation movements in a number of African
countries. When we in South Africa embarked on the armed struggle, China was
one of the countries we looked at to offer us its assistance, following the
inspirational 1949 revolution led by Chairman Mao.

Our visit to China seeks to further deepen the already warm ties between the
ANC and the CPC, and between our two countries.

We are pleased that both the CPC and ANC are in agreement regarding the need
to develop a more structured, and a more focused manner of engagement
between the two parties.

This will no doubt also influence the pace and depth of relations between
our two governments. In our discussions with the party leadership in Beijing
yesterday, we were very impressed by the emphasis on cadre induction and
development, as it is our renewed area of focus. Our presence at this
leadership academy provides more insight for us regarding how we can take
this goal forward.

As the ANC, we are currently on a mission to revive and strengthen our
party-to-party relations with fraternal movements in Africa and the South.
Prior to visiting China we were in India, and had fruitful deliberations
with our hosts the Indian National Congress, (INC).

We will soon be holding more meetings with fraternal political movements in
Africa, to re-ignite party contacts. We are concerned that most active
political interactions are at an intergovernmental level, through the
African Union or regional bodies, or through structures such as the Pan
African Parliament.

While these intergovernmental and parliamentary structures play a critical
and unequalled role, Africa still needs to revive the power of her once
powerful political movements. This will ensure well-thought out political
content in political programmes undertaken at an inter-governmental level.

The transition from liberation movements fighting for freedom to governing
parties has affected liberation movements in varying degrees.

The trend has been that generally, political movements cease to pay
attention to political work once they get into office, which weakened them
in the long run. Political work is important in order to strengthen
political parties, as you would be aware in this Academy.

While liberation movements were fighting for freedom, they all moved with
the masses. The power and authority of the organization was derived from the
masses, and was felt by the oppressors, and brought freedom and victories
for the people. Once the movements entered office, they tended to be
consumed by governing and forgot the very people who brought them into
office. They acquired a new authority and power - the State.

Once the power and authority of the people is replaced with that of the
State, the leadership and the movement disconnects from the people. At times
the leadership disconnects from their movements, parties or organizations.

The masses become spectators instead of being active role players in
building the country, through their political organizations or parties. The
plight of the people becomes just a theory, and leaders lose touch. Instead
of political meetings, you get independence celebrations and other similar
public events, which tend to replace political activities.

The African experience has been that former colonizers in the past took
advantage of the disconnection between the masses and their leaders, or
leaders from their organizations or parties. They encouraged the discontent,
especially during the Cold War period.

We have had experiences of coup d' tats being staged to topple leaders whose
power bases had been deliberately eroded. They would be removed by powerful
foreign forces or by local greedy soldiers who took advantage of the
situation. And the disenchanted masses look on; they do not defend them at
all.

As the ANC we will be investing a lot of effort in continental as well as
South-to-South party political renewals. We are also investing in the
political renewal and strengthening of the ANC quite actively, to avoid
falling in the trap of allowing State power to make us forget the masses.

Our visit to China is part of that mission, to revive relations, but also to
learn from the CPC on its cadre development and party organizational work on
the ground.

Ladies and gentlemen, as said earlier our country is in its 14th year of
freedom. When we look back we are proud of the achievements we have made in
a very short space of time. We have managed to undertake the largest
provision of basic services to the poor in our country's history.

An increasing number of South Africans now have access to housing, water,
electricity, sanitation, telephones, education and health care than ever
before.

I would like to assure you that as we near the end of term of the current
government, there is no need for any apprehension. There is one ANC. We will
manage the transition as efficiently as we have always done in previous
years.

We will next year hold our general elections, which should take place as
efficiently and as smoothly as all previous ones since 1994, managed by our
Electoral Commission.

Let me also use this opportunity to emphasise that there should be no
uneasiness about the relationship between the ANC, led by Jacob Zuma, and
the South African government, led by the President of the Republic, Thabo
Mbeki. I have been asked this question frequently abroad.

We have established good working relations since the change of ANC
leadership, and the party headquarters and government work well together.

There is no need for international guests to feel they have to tiptoe around
President Thabo Mbeki and I when wanting to do business in South Africa or
interact with us at any level. There is one ANC. People can see either of us
depending of their needs, depending on whether these are State or party
related.

The ANC went through a transparent democratic process and elected a new
leadership, which was immediately accepted by the then outgoing leadership.
There has been no crisis at all. President Thabo Mbeki and I have worked
together for many years and continue to do so, for the good of our country
and its people.

Ladies and gentlemen, the ANC and the CPC have come a long way in solidarity
and friendship. We believe that our two countries will cooperate and share
experiences as we both host huge international sporting events, the Beijing
Olympics 2008 and the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup in South Africa.

We look forward to taking our party-to-party collaboration to greater
heights in the political, economic, scientific and educational arenas. We
will also continue our mission to re-ignite and revive party interactions in
the continent.

Thank you for your hospitality.