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The Young Communist League of South Africa(uFasimba) applauds the ANC for a successful, decisive National General Council which gave thousands of ANC members and Alliance partners an opportunity to assess and interrogate the state of our revolutionary movement, government and policies. The manner in which processes unfolded were a far cry from the much anticipated hostility and chaos by most media practitioners.This affirms that members of the ANC will never be deterred by narrow speculation and pessimistic views from so-called analysts and media commentators.

Discipline

As the YCLSA we welcome the tough stance by the President, Cde. Jacob Zuma on the issue of discipline and rules of engagement. President Jacob Zuma was fair in his assessment and re-assured that disciplinary measures would apply to all members of the ANC and Alliance partners without fear or favour. We hope that this will restore the culture of vigorous debate and interaction without narrowing down or degenerating core issues to individuals. This foreign tendency has distorted a lot of potential key issues which could have been resolved upon.

Education

We welcome the proposal in the education commission which proposed that compulsory community service should not only be applicable to doctors, but this should further apply to other graduates in various fields, as this would assist in skills development and the attainment of the relevant practical knowledge most graduates require when entering the workplace.

Service delivery

President Jacob Zuma re-affirmed the ANC's commitment towards service delivery. All Ministers have signed the performance agreements and this will also be applicable to Provincial and local government. In the past two years we have seen an increase in service delivery protests which stem from the looming frustrations people have with the pace of service delivery. The agreements should be duly enforced and any civil servant which does not deliver should be held accountable.

NHI

We welcome the proposed implementation of the NHI as a sense of urgency. The Health system in South Africa is one still characterised by severe inequalities to the detriment of the poor and the working class. Medial aid schemes are profit driven corporations which configurate medical services according to class. So many workers pay medical aid only to find that the benefits are not worth the money they pay every single month. This elitism should be eliminated in basic services such as health and education. The days of depriving any human the right to health care because they don't have money should be a thing of the past.

BEE

The YCLSA welcomes the general consensus around BEE that it has been turned into a narrow accumulation tool as opposed to being a policy which will benefit the black majority. The unintended consequences have been the benefit of an elite few, mainly well connected politicians. This has unfortunately discredited BEE as a genuine policy to address past socio-economic disparaties. Overall the Economic transformation was very robust in interrogation neo-liberal policies which have benefited corporations. We respect the stance taken by the NGC that further engagement on policies will unfold in 2012.

Media Tribunal

The Media tribunal is a necessary intervention in the current framework the media operates in. The NGC was very clear in terms of ensuring that the Media tribunal becomes a reality. We should acknowledge the role that media has played both as a community watchdog as well as causing unrest and distortions about facts. Irresponsible journalism can never be ignored and Journalists should be held accountable. the Ombudsman has not played that role unfortunately. As Cde. Pallo Jordaan stated, the ANC has a track record for advocating for freedom of expression. Most progressive legislation with respect to media came post-1994 and relations with the media have from then been favourable and interactive. The proposed Media Tribunal is in no way to undermine these gains and laws, but it is to also ensure that media practitioners equally respect the very same laws which apply to every South African. There are numerous incidents where a number of South Africans, politicians in most instances that have been victims of distorted reporting resulting in the compromise of their social standing and reputations. Its important that as much as we embrace Freedom of expression, this should never be to the detriment or violation of another persons reputation, unjustifiably so. As the YCLSA we support the Media Tribunal porposal .

Overall we welcome the outcomes of the NGC. We have full confidence that most of the resolutions will be implemented swiftly to the benefit of every South African