African National Congress (ANC) president Thabo Mbeki provided delegates to ANC's second National General Council (NGC), held in Pretoria yesterday, with a firm reminder of their duty to behave ethically and with integrity.

He made his address in the presence of former Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who Mbeki released from his duties earlier this month following a guilty verdict in a fraud and corruption trial involving Zuma's associate and financial adviser Schabir Shaik.

The two men entered the hall together and shared the podium, while ANC delegates sang pro-Zuma songs, some of which made overt references to him being the next president.

In his lecture, Mbeki quoted extensively from the ANC Constitution and from the declaration that members take in joining the organisation.

He stressed that people who join must do so "without motives of material advantage or personal gain".

He also quoted a section which states: "I will defend the unity and integrity of the organisation and its principles, and combat any tendency towards disruption and factionalism".

"I trust that all of us who are here as delegates and members of the ANC have indeed voluntarily bound ourselves to the principles contained in this oath.

I also trust that all of us remain committed to live up to these principles and objectives in everything we do from day to day," Mbeki said.

He then went on to honour those heroes of the movement, who are widely respected for their integrity, including: Walter Sisulu, who died in May 2003; Maulvi Cachalia, who died in August 2003; Dullah Omar and Wilton Mkwayi, who died in March and July 2004 respectively; Beyers Naude and Ray Simons, who both died in September 2004; and Raymond Mhlaba, who died in February this year.

"These outstanding patriots knew that their involvement in our struggle as activists and leaders entailed acceptance of the fact that they had to be ready to make any sacrifices imposed on them by the oppressor regime, including losing their lives.

“In return, they expected no reward other than the liberation of our people. Even after our liberation, in 1994, they never asked for any material reward for the things they did over many decades to help bring about our emancipation," Mbeki pointedly remarked.

The theme of integrity was picked up by secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe in his organisation report.

He lambasted power struggles at branch level, stating that, in many cases, the divisions were caused by a preoccupation, on the part of public representatives, with securing access to and control over public resources.

Motlanthe and Mbeki argued that the current focus on personal gain was standing in the way of delivery on the 'People's Contract for a Better South Africa'.

Mbeki quoted extensively from the declaration adopted by the ANC's Stellenbosch 51st National Conference, where the ANC committed itself to pursuing policies that supported growth and development.

He indicated that recent demonstrations in some of our municipalities against perceived under-delivery "had been inspired by the grievance among some of our poorest communities that they have been excluded from access to this better life".

"We must, therefore, treat these demonstrations as a challenge to us actually to give concrete expression to our undertaking to work within communities and within government, playing our part in forging the People's Contract for a Better South Africa," he said. Mbeki made only oblique reference to the discussion documents released ahead of the NGC, one of which controversially suggests changes to labour policy. However, he highlighted two areas of focus for advancing the process of social transformation, including the challenge of the Second Economy, and improving the capacity and effectiveness of our developmental state.

"I believe that our agenda gives the National General Council ample scope to reflect on these two critically important matters and make proposals that should help us further to expedite our advance towards the realisation of the vision of the Freedom Charter."

He called for a partnership between government, business, labour and the community to address the economic and development challenges of South Africa.

He also emphasised the need for a broad partnership of Africa with the rest of the world in addressing the challenges of the continent.

"At the conclusion of the General Council, we will have to travel immediately to the AU Summit, in Libya, the G8 Summit, in Scotland, which will discuss support for the Nepad programmes, and Khartoum, Sudan, to participate in the installation of the new Sudanese government born of the peace agreement that ended the protracted war between the northern and southern parts of Sudan," he said.

He also promised to meet with the Movement for Democratic Change, the opposition party in Zimbabwe, to discuss the current challenges in that country.

It is understood that there is some pressure on Mbeki to show more assertiveness against the actions of the President Robert Mugabe regime ahead of the AU and G8 gatherings.

"In the context of all these and other developments, the National General Council will have to assess the role of the ANC in its pursuit of the two related goals of the renaissance of Africa and the building of a new world order that fully accords with the interests and aspirations of the majority of humanity, which constitutes the poor of the world," he concluded.