Speech Of The President Of The African National Congress, Thabo Mbeki, To Close The ANC Policy Conference

Gallagher Estate, Midrand

Comrade Chairperson,
Comrades delegates:

We are about to close our highly successful Policy Conference. As we conclude this important Conference, I have no hesitation in making the proud assertion that through the work you have done over the last three days, and the conclusions you have arrived at, you have once more confirmed that our movement, the African National Congress, remains ever ready to honour its responsibilities to the people of South Africa.

Through what you have done, you have made the statement that in our country our movement continues to occupy the front rank in terms of developing the policies we need to respond to the many complex issues inherent in the historic project to eradicate the deeply entrenched colonial and apartheid legacy and build a new society.

The National Executive Committee is very pleased with the intimate familiarity with the Discussion Documents that you showed during the discussions in all the Commissions, confirming the seriousness with which you prepared for this Conference.

What was also obvious throughout our discussions was the fact that our movement is blessed to have within its ranks enormous intellectual talent, precisely the capacity we need to answer the many questions we must answer in order to create the kind of society towards which our people aspire.

We are concluding our Conference within the time we had set ourselves. This attests to the high level of discipline that you comrades have shown throughout our proceedings. It confirmed the fact that we remain the disciplined movement that we must be, to be able to discharge our historic responsibility as the leader of the national democratic revolution.

Our leadership thanks all of you comrades for all these positive features of our work over the last few days and urges all of us further to entrench them in our branches and other structures and our work in general, as we continue to do our work as a revolutionary movement.

There are some in our country who will contest the view we all share that we have held a highly successful Conference, and strive to define the outcomes of the Policy Conference as a dull and unexciting non-event. Among these will be those who presented their wishes to the public ahead of our Conference, falsely pretending that these were well-founded predictions, that our work would be characterised by deep divisions and bitter conflicts among ourselves.

Since their ill-intentioned "predictions" failed to materialise, I am certain that these professional critics are already at work to invent new negatives to give life to their negative campaigns.

On Wednesday evening, the first day of the Policy Conference, I heard one of these critics, searching for something to criticise, in order to sustain the negative, arguing that the leadership would come under fire about our ability to meet our commitment to reduce unemployment and poverty by half by 2014.

Searching for reasons to explain this pessimism, the critic in question argued, very strangely and wrongly, that we would not accomplish the goals we have set ourselves in this regard, because of the reduction in the numbers of those employed in commercial agriculture! In polite language, this would be described as scraping the barrel, as indeed it was!

We are in the very fortunate position that the correctness of our decisions, and therefore the popular assessment and approval of the positions taken by this Policy Conference of the African National Congress do not depend on the views of the likes of the professional critic of the ANC to whom I have referred.

For us, what is critically important is whether the decisions we have taken,

* serve the aspirations of the masses of our people and respond adequately to the express voice of the people;

* whether these decisions fully recognise the possibility for us to accelerate our advance towards the creation of the new South Africa; and,

* whether these decisions are mere and empty conference resolutions that bear no relationship to what we can and will do.

Despite the fact that as President of the ANC, for obvious reasons I have not had the time to consult with the rest of our leadership, and therefore represent our collective opinion, it is my firm view that the decisions that you, comrades, have taken at this important Policy Conference,

* represent a sensitive and accurate response to the voice of the people;

* will serve as a firm and realistic base for us to accelerate the process of progressive and people-centred change; and,

* once confirmed by the National Conference at the end of the year, will constitute a firm mandate for our comrades deployed in the legislatures and executives in all three spheres of government, supported and guided by the mass-based structures of our movement.

As I have already indicated, I am therefore pleased to use this occasion to communicate to our organisation as a whole, the broad movement for progressive change, and to the masses of our people, that the proceedings and results of our Conference confirm that the ANC continues to live up to its obligation to play its role as a trusted leader, a loyal servant of the people, and an agent for change.

As I said in the Opening Address, delivered on behalf of our National Executive Committee, we have an obligation to communicate the results of the Policy Conference to our people as a whole, and as many popular organisational formations in our country as possible.

As all of us are aware, we will ultimately take these results to our National Conference at the end of the year as recommendations. However, the immediate task ahead of us is to report the outcomes of our Conference to our branches, reaching out to all our members.

Now that we have a good understanding of the views of our movement as a whole, we must use the period between now and our National Conference to engage our membership in continuing discussions, further to refine our policies, preparatory to their presentation at the National Conference.

To this I would like to add that we should also make a serious effort to communicate these decisions to our Allies and the organisations of the mass democratic movement historically associated with our movement.

We should do all this to ensure when our National Conference convenes at the end of the year, it will be able to consider both the decisions taken at this Policy Conference and our structures, as well as the views of our people as a whole.

Among other things this will require that the entirety of our membership, and especially our leadership echelon at all levels, is thoroughly familiar with the discussions during, and the decisions adopted at the conclusion of the Policy Conference.

In this regard, I would like to remind all of us of a critical requirement in terms of our democratic processes - the requirement for all members to respect and abide by the majority decisions adopted during our meetings.

I raise this specific point because for some time now, all of us have observed a gravely negative process with regard to our organisational cohesion and discipline. I refer here to the unacceptable practice that results in some of our members and structures virtually openly defying decisions legitimately taken by the constitutional structures of our movement.

Quite often, among other things, this has resulted in members of our leadership structures, including the National Working Committee and the National Executive Committee, deliberately, intentionally and anonymously to leak to the mass media the proceedings of even these senior committees of our movement.

Frequently, these committees have discussed this development and expressed their concerns about this unacceptable practice. Nevertheless, the reality is that this practice, of which our movement has no previous experience, has persisted.

Our movement is deeply interested that everybody, including our members, our supporters and the population at large should have the possibility and right freely to express their opinions. We will continue to defend this right, and its practical expression, even if it results in the enunciation of views contrary to our own as a movement.

In this regard I have no hesitation is saying that our movement has no equal among the political formations in our country in terms of democratic participation and widespread consultation in the formulation of its policies.

We will continue further to entrench this rich tradition which we must sustain as we continue to enhance our character as a parliament of the people. However, all of us must all understand that, as members, we have both rights and obligations. And none of us has a right to act in any manner that weakens a movement they joined voluntarily.

I have said everything I have because sitting as we do in the leadership collectives of the ANC, we cannot ignore and act in dereliction of our duty as democratically mandated leaders and members of the legitimate institutions of our movement.

Always we have to defend the ANC, the true hope and repository of the confidence about a better future that inspires the masses of our people.

Fortunately, over the last four days we have been meeting as a Policy Conference. The advantage this gives us, as I have personally experienced in our Commissions, and consistent with our call for a festival of ideas, is that all of us, including the President of the ANC, have had the possibility to participate in the ideological and political contest within our ranks, hopefully to promote the objectives of the democratic revolution.

Our leadership and I feel privileged that over the last four days we have had the possibility to listen to you dear comrades, as you discussed the challenging and interesting questions we must discuss, to find the right answers to the critical question we must answer together, relating to the aspirations of the masses of our people and the obligations of our movement to these masses - what is to be done!

When I spoke during our Opening Session on Wednesday, I referred to the task to build the new cadres of whom we spoke enthusiastically and with great conviction during the year 2000 National General Council we held in Port Elizabeth.

If I may, I would like to restate what I said during that important occasion as we grappled with the task to define the tasks and nature of our movement during the period of liberation, and therefore our new experiences as a governing party, 88 years after our movement was born, an issue we considered again during this Policy Conference.

On the occasion of the Port Elizabeth NGC, among other things, I said: "I am talking about the need for us to develop new cadres to meet the demands imposed on us by the victories we have scored as we have pursued the objectives of the democratic revolution. I am talking here of the need for us to implement a programme focused, among other things, on the development of cadres who are truly politically committed to the all-round success of the new democratic South Africa, and properly prepared with regard to the skills our country needs to achieve that success."

As I listened to some of our discussions over the last four days, I felt immensely strengthened in my conviction that you comrades, and our membership as a whole, are indeed truly politically committed to the all-round success of the new democratic South Africa and dispose of enormous skills which our country needs to achieve success. These are the reasons I feel emboldened to say of our movement that it remains a trusted leader, a loyal servant of the people and an agent for change.

You, comrades, who are gathered in this hall, and have participated in the work of this Conference, including its preparatory phases, constitute an important component part of the leadership of our movement. To repeat the important truths that you know, for whose repetition I apologise, you must continue to play your role as genuine leaders of the African National Congress. Accordingly:

* you must continue to have the courage to think independently;

* you must take the necessary steps to acquire the skills the democratic revolution needs, and work to ensure that this revolution has the necessary and growing number of people committed to the victory of the democratic revolution, even within the limited space of their professions and skills;

* where necessary you must identify what is wrong and oppose it, without fear or favour;

* at all times you must act in a manner consistent with your principles and your consciences;

* at all times you must remain loyal to the goal of serving the masses of our people; and,

* all times you must refuse to succumb to what might, at any particular moment, present itself as genuinely a popular view, simply because it was a popular view, regardless of whether, objectively, it serves the interests of the people.

Because of your respect for these principles before and during the Policy Conference, you have succeeded to draw the attention of our movement to the critical importance of a whole range of issues on which we must focus, even as we continue to implement the rest of our programmes.

We do not have the time for me to detail all the various matters I am speaking about. Merely to illustrate what I am talking about, I will mention only some of the matters on which you have decided our movement must focus, which I believe our National Conference will endorse. These are:

* propagating and entrenching in our society the values of ubuntu/botho to enhance the human dignity of all our people;

* using the process of place name changes to pay tribute to the midwives and architects of our freedom, enhance the dignity of the formerly oppressed, celebrate diversity, and mobilise all our people to unite around the process of building national cohesion and a common patriotism;

* enhancing the safety and security of all our people, by vigorously responding to crimes of violence, including the violence experienced by women, children and the elderly, corruption, and drug and alcohol abuse;

* reviewing our system of governance significantly to increase its capacity properly to respond to its central task to meet our development imperatives;

* strengthening the capacity of the state to generate the financial and other resources to support industrial development, the development of the SMMEs and the cooperatives, and the empowerment of women and the youth;

* increasing our attention to education, health and child poverty in our continuing struggle against poverty and underdevelopment;

* elaborating a comprehensive rural development strategy, focusing on women's development;

* assessing our energy mix, bearing in mind our economic and social requirements, and our response to the challenge of climate change; and,

* contributing to the strengthening of SADC, the AU and NEPAD.

In a few hours I will leave our country to travel to Accra, Ghana, to attend the Summit Meeting of the African Union, which, among others, will discuss proposals about the formation of an all-African Union Government. I am glad we discussed this matter, which has also been considered by our National Assembly.

Undoubtedly, the decisions of the Policy Conference will greatly strengthen our ability constructively to participate in the proceedings of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government.

Yesterday, the public sector workers who had been on strike started going back to work. Like all our people, I am certain that all of us welcomed and were very pleased at this positive development. I would like to thank the government and union negotiators for the great effort they put into the work to reach a settlement, as well the government and the relevant unions for accepting the negotiated agreement.

In this regard I would like to confirm that both our leadership and our government are committed to the sustained improvement of the remuneration and working conditions of the public sector workers. These workers occupy a critically important position in the developmental state we are striving to build.

We must therefore engage them in serious conversation to agree with them about what they and our government should do together in partnership, to ensure that the democratic state discharges its obligations to the masses of our people.

Dear comrades: once more and on behalf of our National Executive Committee, I would like to thank you for the important work you did this morning and the preceding three days, the vigour and openness of the debates in which you engaged, and the affirmation of the unity of our movement.

I am certain that the masses of our people will warmly welcome the decisions you have taken and the manner in which you conducted yourselves as delegates to an important national lekgotla.

Please return to your homes safely, ready to do everything we have to do everyday to honour our obligation to serve the people of South Africa. I declare the Policy Conference closed.

Amandla!